Writing fanfic is where I learned to write men(insofar as I'm able) Of course, I started off slowly in that I had Timmy Bayliss to write for, and he may be more of a girl than I.

Like Cindy said, I'm not sure I can be arsed to be the best I can be.

When I say "won't be good enough," I have to stop myself and ask, good enough for what?

These, and my tagline by Dorothy Parker. It's a combination of, do I really want to do that much work and a "what's it to you if I do or I don't?" The only person my writing should really matter to is me. I'd like it if it called to other people on the same level, I hope it's good, but in the long run it's just for me. It has to be for it to be truly meaningful. And why write if it's just going to be empty words and platitudes for other people? At least, that's where I'm coming from. I can understand that for someone wanting to make it on a commercial level, they have more variables to take into account. Some I'm not ready to consider yet, so my writing in the meantime will be just for me. But I hope everyone here will read it, relate to it, give it helpful criticism, help me grow as a person and a writer.

This conversation reminded me of something I read about the Beatles, back when. They played some very crappy clubs starting out, and John's Auntie Mimi wanted him to go back and take the civil service test. But they would get together afterward and John would say "Where we going, fellas?"
And the guys would say "To the top, Johnny!"

And it would finish off that they'd say "To the toppermost of the poppermost." I want that. By Thursday. Guess I have to finish something first. Damn it.

I tend to write the same characters

That's a very good point! I tend to write moderately sane, well-adjusted, fairly intelligent, mellow people. Other people's universes force you to deal with people who despise each other, true sadistic evil, and bad, senseless things happening to nice folks. When I was writing Star Wars fanfic back in the day (a quick, fond glance to the file drawer full of paper), I had several weeks' worth of crisis over the moral advisability of writing violence. I had to keep telling myself, "You're writing about a war, you're writing about people fighting a war. They're not throwing daisies at each other."

If nothing else, fanfic has forced me to consider a lot of the philosophical bases of behavior and why people act the way they do. It's enabled me to explore the inside of my mind, and if for nothing else but that, I'll never regret "wasting the paper and ink." Back to wasting electrons.

I was just thinking about similar stuff, earlier today.

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Why type it over again? Am I overreacting?

No, I don't think you're over-reacting. I've seen lots of commentary in various places saying "You can't write X, you're a Y!" It's a big reason some writers use pseudonyms, like if Stephen King suddenly wanted to write Harlequin romances.

Pause to shudder in twisted delight.

Would the characters speak like that? Can you hear them in your head speaking the lines you want them to? That's how I do most of my dialogue, I turn on the mental movie projector and see if the rhythm of the words work coming out of that character's mouth. Sometimes they don't, and I lean back in my chair and swear.

Yes, it's you putting the words on the paper. But if you're doing it at all write--and, knowing you, you probably are--then you're not the one speaking on the page. You're just taking dictation.

erika, I think you're panicking a little and that can lead to, maybe not overreacting, but worse-case-scenarioing? I mean, look at some of the shows you watch. They get into the nitty-gritty of street life, do you think all the writers have been cornerboys, if any of them? You can do it, too.

Cereal:

I'm finally doing it. Taking the first draft of the novel I finished about three years ago and going over it with an eye towards marketability. The revised opening is done, and t deep breath I'm asking if anyone would like to see it. t chants calming mantra "They're my friends, they're my friends, if they say it sucks it's not because they hate you"

Specifically, I'm wondering if it's a story that a reader would want to know more of, is the main character plausable, and later questions to follow depending on initial reactions.

So. t muzzling the Interior Critic who is screaming in terror Anyone want to see it?

Connie, I'd love to read it. Is that the only feedback you want, or specific line editing / typo catching stuff, too?

Maybe one or two. Mostly they arrested them or reported on them.