magibrain

(I was super sleep deprived when I wrote that last comment, and I get weird about this stuff even at the best of times, so I apologize for getting all up in your comments with my feelings! I think when people say, "If you can't handle having people criticize your work, don't share it on the Internet, dumbass," they are definitely talking to me. I've come to really like writing as a game -- essentially playing make-believe -- and anytime I try to turn it into work or art I trip myself up. And (despite what my upbringing led me to believe) it is okay to have a hobby and spend your time and energy on something that doesn't have a profitable, tangible result that you can show people. That is okay!)

I really struggle when it comes to my own work about the idea of a flawed thing still having value, even though I know I love a lot of flawed stories, sometimes because of their flaws. But my personal neuroses mean I have a hard time seeing the value in my own flawed works and in trusting myself at all to recognize whether what I'm creating is okay to share with people or not. My own self-perception is so warped that I don't trust myself to be able to look at my work and imagine what someone else's actual reaction to it will be.

I'm curious whether you have that issue with your own stuff. I know you said you can't understand the affection for one of your own stories -- in which case, how do you get to a point where you think "this is good enough to submit"? And do you enjoy the editing and rewriting process? Does it destroy your affection for your work at all?