Running the wife to the airport this morning, so let me direct you to this thoughtful and fun link. Hat tips to both Colleen Lindsay and Nathan Bransford for bringing this article to my attention.
And yes, this does have to do with your writing style and habits. In essence, are you confident enough in the progression of your abilities to allow room for improvement? Can you handle negative feedback in a constructive way? And do you see each story you write as a step up, rather than the ultimate summit?
Or are you delusional in thinking every word you write is perfect? That all those agents and editors who have rejected you belong in straightjackets? That anything less than effusive praise doesn’t deserve to reach your ears?
The article doesn’t quite provide a box-check test for one side of the spectrum or the other, but it does list a number of insightful qualities thought you can probably see mirrored in yourself one way or the other. Take a gander and then…well, get back to writing. Hopefully with a better perspective.
Here are a few examples:
Confident writers get published.
Delusional writers don’t get published very often, and if they do it’s not for very long.
Delusional writers don’t get published very often, and if they do it’s not for very long.
Confident writers know they’ll be published, if they keep at it.
Delusion writers think they’ll be rich and famous.
Delusion writers think they’ll be rich and famous.
Confident writers work to get the words right.
Delusional writers think they got the words right the first time.
Delusional writers think they got the words right the first time.
I see that smile.