There's a famous quote by Helen Keller, which is really what many should stand by.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

The problem I've been seeing here on FiMFic is that people don't have confidence to continue with a story or even look at it with pride because of its reception. If you can't even feel proud about actually putting something out then what's the point of doing it at all?

I was just looking at this incomprehensible mess, to see the writer saying that whoever liked the story shouldn't even have bothered. Now, would you want to go to school with that attitude? The workplace? Home? No. You wouldn't.

Nothing is ever driven by pessimism. Even if something sounds ludicrously stupid, there should still be a bit of confidence that it'll work. If it doesn't, then shrug it off, either move on or try again. If a story you write is bad, try to learn something from it! See what you did wrong and what you can fix, but never give up hope. Ever.

It's frustrating to deal with those people who mope around and whine because they don't think they can ever improve, and dog dammit if that isn't the biggest pile of bullshit I don't know what else. Everybody has room for improvement; none of us are perfect. So what? You write some story that turns out bad. Okay, so rewrite it or just move on and try to improve next time.

If you don't feel confident enough to write it, then don't bother following through with it. It's okay about being humble about something, but it's different if you're too humble, like the author of this Sue story, or being depressingly humble.

In conclusion, having confidence is really the only thing that can drive you to do something, and do it well. You need to trust as your abilities; if you don't, you will not only fail in this realm of fanfiction but also out there in the real world.

3019645

Sir, I retain the right to feel as confident about my work as I please. If I write something that I feel is not terribly great (but publish it anyway), then I will feel ashamed of myself for putting it out there. The real issue, here, is why an author publishes a story when he already thinks it's not that great.

This lecture concerns material that is less about actual writing attitudes and more about your own opinions. It comes across as a rant, and thus feels like it's driven by personal motives, rather than out of a wish for others to improve.

3019645 I upvoted that story just to see a little bit of green on the L:DL bar. I'm not one for saying that someone shouldn't try, I'm just saying they could have tried harder.

I believe I can fly. Doesn't mean I should jump off a roof. Good lecture

3019696

Maybe you're right on that. I kinda put it out pretty fast with not so much revision, probably not one of my best lectures, but still. Even if it may be heavily opinionated there could be something that can be used to understand what I'm trying to say.

3019771

Eh, my reply was a bit aggressive. Sorry for acting like an ass. My hackles sometimes rise for random reasons.

3019863

It's fine.

This seems like a job for Iron Will.

Pretty sneaky method of getting people to have more confidence, linking them to a train-wreck.

3019645

I can't even begin to say how important.this is.

And you're totally right, dealing with "those people who mope around and whine because they don't think they can ever improve" is a pain. One who drove me really crazy had alot of talent for drawing, but constantly complained to me how meaningless this was, because there were other artist who were better than him at a younger age. He never believed me, that they got that good because they kept on drawing instead of whining.

There will always be somebody better than you. Don't drag yourself down about it. Take it as an inspiration for how much better you can get and keep on doing what you're doing.

3019645 I think it's good to stand up to what you publish, and not make excuses for it. I liked what you said in your lecture, but after having a look at your example, I really didn't think that was what's going on there. If the author himself says it is horrible, why publish in the first place? That just sais you didn't make an effort. If you have the ability to see what's wrong with the story to an extent that you actually call you own work horrible, you could make it better. But you didn't. Either because you didn't have the time (in which case you could have have postponed publishing and continued to work on it), or you didn't even try, in which case I wonder how you plan to improve.

As I see it, learning to write a enjoyable story encompasses many things, such as story structure, character design, writing voice, basic grammar, you name it. You do these things to the best of your abilities, get critiqued and earn a better understanding for it, and try from an empowered position next time. If you don't try with your best of abilities from the getgo, you won't be able to learn. Seeing something you did is crap, and posting it anyway tells me you just don't care.

“Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases
that's where it should stay.” –Christopher Hitchens

I think this video is in order for those that lost their confidence:

3019645
OK. lets say I posted a bad story and people were just RIPPING on it. If I had confidence and said that I didn't care what they though, people would think i was an arrogant prick! I've been a writer for "many" years but I've only been online writing for... about a year now and i have experienced the best and worst of the community if someone is blatantly bashing my story how can i defend it without looking like a dick?

3034778

Just say, but worded in a friendly, not-so-pessimistic way, that you accept that this story is bad, and you'll try to fix your mistakes in the future or the story itself. People have ripped through stories of mine before, so I just take a look at what they say, and then look at the story. My first decent success, a Metroid crossover suffered this, so I accepted that it had many a flaw and rewrote the story as an answer to the issues.

It's pretty funny when I see stories that say "this is my first story, it's pretty bad, so don't be so harsh" in their descriptions or authors notes.

Usually, I just laugh and rip into them, anyways. If you aren't confident that this is the best you can do, then my opinion of your story will be signifigantly low. You've got me thinking, "Why the hell didn't you try hard enough?"

If you put your 100% into this, then you deserve the respect anyone deserves for enjoying what they do.