You Better Be a Perfect Writer, All the Time, Or Else!
Thoughts on the expectations and demands of artists and writers.
I’m a new writer. That means I’m not very good. I’m still learning, still honing, still improving. It means I’m still scouring the endless ‘How Tos‘ on the internet.
Still, I’m not as bad a writer as I was five years ago, and most certainly better than ten years ago. I have improved each year I’ve practiced. That’s how it usually works. But I’m far from being an expert.
And still, even without being a master, since I have some good work under my belt, or at least a small amount of better work than before, some beta readers became impressed with my current level of skill. That feels really nice. It encouraged me. Not in an arrogant way, but in a confidence-building way.
We could all use a confidence boost sometimes.
Then I pulled up a piece from twenty years ago to revise. I thought I had improved it. But when I shared it with beta readers, the criticism was strong:
“It’s not as good as the work you usually have.”
Well, of course it isn’t. It’s an old piece. It’s hard to fix an old piece. But what surprised me was the general level of disappointment, as if I had let someone down by not always putting out my best work.
And I’m not even a master. I have no following. Nobody knows me from diddly squat.
So how hard must that expectation be for writers who are well known?
I recently came across a Substack post about Brandon Sanderson. I personally like Sanderson’s work. I enjoy it. He’s a darn good writer. And I really do love all his posts for new writers like me, especially the ones about How to Write. He doesn’t have to take time to do that for us. It’s generous.
And still, this Substack post essentially trashed him and his ‘supposed’ downfall, and compared him to George R. R. Martin (who I also don’t think is having a downfall).
And I was reminded of my own experience. As soon as you do well, even a tiny bit, everyone expects you to stay at that level all the time.
Sure, if you’re flying a plane, then you do NOT get the flexibility of any mistakes. There are hundreds of lives depending on you. But as a writer, it’s perfectly fine to put out a less-than-stellar book from time-to-time.
No wonder many people carry extreme levels of anxiety at the thought of producing for the public. Of course people are scared of success and sabotage themselves. Who wouldn’t when that’s the future you can expect; people turning on you because you weren’t perfect at every moment of your career.
If one is never allowed to make a mistake, or do less than their best, or underperform, out of fear of letting everyone down, then it’s easy to not bother trying at all. And without mistakes, one cannot improve.
And what a horrid world we would live in without all the many different forms of stories and art and movies and entertainment; all from the imaginative minds of artists and creatives.
Every author I know puts their heart and soul into what they write. So, let us all give authors a little break.
They are only human too.
Note: Image from Midjourney.