It's just not good enough. Those five awful words that writers, and most creatives as a whole, experience almost every single day. And if you have the joy of not experiencing this feeling for one day, then you are sure to have it ten-fold the next.
With everything we write, whether we are happy with it to begin with, then find flaws, or hate it as soon as the fingers hit the keys or the pen unleashes its ink onto paper, we are bound to reach that moment of 'It's Just Not Good Enough'. It's a horrible way to live and work and is one of the many reasons being a writer is so damn difficult. But the thing is, I know that 99% of all writers experience it, from Mark Lawrence, to Nicholas Sparks, from Neil Gaiman to Robin Hobb. Everyone is in the same boat, and if you're not, maybe that's the where the problem lies.
It doesn't have to be an entirely negative experience. I am currently working on the second book, 'The Shadows Stare Back', of my Shieldlaw Trilogy, and am in the throws of 'just not good enough'. But then I think back to writing the first book, and how I reached a similar stage then, but slogged through and made my work better. Without that nagging feeling, you might not be bothered to redraft, or work harder to make your work the best it can be. Embrace the 'it's just not good enough', and use that as fuel to make it good enough. Or somewhere close to good enough. Or just better than it is now.
You may be reading this and thinking, why do I care what this guy has to say on the matter? And I would be like, fair enough. But, to be honest this, is almost more of a post for myself than anyone else, though if anyone does get something out of this, it would make my week. Keep working hard. Never give up. All those usual clichés are true.
Find joy in writing, otherwise what's the point.
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