I got to thinking about something just a few minutes ago.
As some of you know from my Catfish interview, or the thread I satrted telling you all what a debt I owe to Snow for helping me find my passion for writing again, there was a time when I let the harsh words of someone I respected destroy my confidence. That caused me to turn away from writing for a very long time. Much too long.
Something I know that we almost always say here is that it's better for a writer to get honest feedback than it is a pat on the back when it isn't deserved. I agree with that...but only to a certain point.
After much prodding from Snow, I had finally sat down and typed out the 500 words or so that would be the beginning of Side Worlds. They were terrible. Badly written, horribly executed, and many other things that caused them to be little more than verbal vomit on a computer screen.
I'm pretty damn sure that Snow saw that they weren't very good. But, still, she encouraged me to keep going.
Had she gone the "honesty" route, I probably would have stopped right then and there, never to pick up my pen again. I still had no confidence in my abilities when I showed her those first words. Anything harsh would have most likely turned me away from writing for good this time.
So, while I completely understand that honesty is normally the best way to go, I also understand that sometimes, just sometimes, being honest could quite possibly be a final step in someone giving up on his/her dream of writing.
Just something I think some should keep in mind.
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