Ha, you know I never sugar coat anything, so if I say you're good, I damn well mean it.

LMAO!!

True enough....lol

This is actually something kinda personal...but it's something that has been kinda bugging me lately.

Some of you who look in here may know that I have been writing a ( what I am planning on finishing as ) a book.

I have posted quite a bit of it here for people to see.

Before I say any more I want to point out that this is NOT, in ANY way, an attempt to get more people to read it. So please don't take it that way.



Now, some of the people who have read it have been people from the few that I truly consider friends. Some have been people who don't know me at all.

But the response, whether or not they know me, has been overwhelmingly positive. They have all told me that I have a talent.

The problem is this....

I cannot seem to bring myself to accept that they are actually serious. I cannot accept the fact that I may, indeed, have some talent.

It seems to me, in my head, that the people who have told me that they enjoyed my work, did so simply because they didn't want to discourage me, even if they didn't particularly like the writing.

I want to say, to everyone that has given me positive feedback, that I truly do appreciate it. My thoughts are nothing personal, or any indictment of your honesty.

It's just my own head that won't allow me to accept the idea that I could actually be good at something like writing.

All I can really say, to myself most times is, WTF is wrong with me???

Anyone have any ideas how to get past this crap???

Well...rather than send out the file I am writing to ( for purposes of keeping what I have at this point as quiet as possible in the interest of possible future publication ) I will post the link to the thread where I have posted a good number of the chapters I have done at this point.


http://mingle2.com/topic/show/238738

Recieved bro, will take a look at it later and send you back the review.

I'm gonna steal it and market it as my own.

Well...you HAVE given me a couple of ideas for it....lol

How about this. I have read books from "acclaimed" writers that were absolutely trash and if you would ask me to judge that person based on that book, I would have told them they better try their luck with golf or soccer.

Your problem is with being afraid of criticism and you think you supposed to please everyone. That's impossible. Forget about that. Forget about what others say about your book, good or bad. What matters is if you like it or not and deep down if you really think about it, you wrote it because you wanted to write it and to express yourself and tell what you want to tell. If you, personally are not pleased with the book, then change what you don't like in it. Don't write it for others in mind, write it for yourself.

Thanks, D.

No problem, didn't know it was this long haha. Just going through with grammar and spelling issues right now, so I'm not hinging on the detail yet. Probably take me awhile, but I'll get as many pages done tonight as I can and continue at the closest convenience.

Also, I know you are kind of touchy with the document. You might want to protect it. First; note the created time and date stamp by right clicking it and selecting properties, record this somewhere safe like a personal journal or a secure text document on your PC. Second; you can protect it from being edited using this tutorial for word, given you used word it should be relatively the same principle though you may have different options to tick (different versions, not sure which version you are using): http://www.ehow.com/how_2264762_protect-word-document.html --This will keep anyone that you don't want editing the document from editing it and give access only to people you give the password too (use something off from what you usually use if you do plan on giving it out).

You could create a watermark too if you wanted, but those really are quite useless...I can wipe a watermark in a few minutes from a video or text document. Just stick to the above and you should be fine.

I read most of your thread before JAG & enjoyed the read. I'm sure others will as well. If I thought is was uber crap, I would have stopped at the first few chapters. Get it finished & believe in it and yourself