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Sorry, just saw this now. I haven’t been able to read it for a bit with school picking up now. Sorry, hopefully at some point I’ll catch up.
That’s okay. If your too busy don’t feel like you have to read this. Thank you for letting me know where you are.
Sometimes it is necessary to paint the sky black in order to see the stars.
So what chapter are you on right now?
TNPT: The Cost is now finished. 34 chapters + a prologue and discussion questions. I’m just getting feedback for now before I start working on Book II.
Also how are you so brave?! I would be so scared that people would judge my writing. That’s why I stoped with the short story I was sharing on here… no one seemed to enjoy it, it felt like no one was reading it and I realized how horrible I am at writing. (That is the main reason why I think very little wanted to join my thing)
It took me some time to be confident in my writing. Way back when I was 12, I started drawing fantasy creatures. I showed one picture of an anthropomorphic cat superhero to my dad, and he thought it was strange, so after that, I became quite self-conscious about my imagination. I still drew fantasy creatures, but did so for a few years in secret not telling anyone, including my family, in case they judged me. During this time I had several story ideas, most of which seemed cool at the time, but looking back, they seem weird even to me. They shall never see the light of day again. One year, when the rest of my family went on vacation, I threw most of those drawings out. (I should also point out that at this point I had no confidence in my writing at all and English was my worst subject).
Eventually, grade 11 came along, and with it English 20. I hated that class. I got bad grades and I think the teacher was biased against me for my Christian worldview. My mom decided to pull me out and put me in a different course for high school writing. This course brought me back to the basics of writing and I had the freedom to write on whatever subject I chose. In that course, I discovered writing was actually fun. What? And what’s more, I was suddenly good at it, getting high grades. To my surprise, I received an email after this course from my instructor inviting me to a secret creative writing course. She had enjoyed my creative writing a lot, and wanted to see more of it.
I think this is where I started to be more confident. I realized that while some may judge me for what I write, others were interested to see it. Also around this time, I first had the idea for TNPT. And I knew that it was a story I wanted to tell. My sister and one of my best friends were into writing as well. It took a couple of years after that, but I eventually worked up the courage to come back out into the open with my fantasy imagination.
Now one thing I have struggled with throughout all and still need to overcome is my pride. I want to write for the glory of God, but I let my pride slip in the way all the time. I hid my imagination because I didn’t want people to judge me. I wish I hadn’t. While I may have weird ideas occasionally, it is good to share what I have with others so that they can tell me if it is weird in just a weird way, or weird in a ‘this is actually bad and needs to be changed’ sort of way. And it’s okay if you have an idea no one likes. Sometimes you do have to have a lot of bad ideas before you come to the good. Even the best authors have gone through this. It’s okay if some people think what you write is weird. Someone out there is always going to judge you. But don’t keep your focus on pleasing men. Focus on pleasing God.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23 ESV)
My pride is still there, even if I am openly sharing my stuff now. I’m struggling not to let the praise I do receive go to my head. Because I do want attention. I do want people to think Linus Smallprint is a great author, even if no one knows what my real name is. But when we write, it should be to glorify God. Not to exalt ourselves.
So yes, I do have the confidence to share myself, but I am still struggling with the same pride that held me back to begin with. I want you to know you are not alone when it comes to being ashamed of what you write and the judgment people pass on you. Don’t let a lack of interest others have for your ideas discourage you. Keep writing. Keep coming up with fun ideas. And, most importantly, write to the glory of God.
Also, I was enjoying your short story and would love to see the climax. I thought it was fun with the whole ‘Kindom of the Pen’ thing. And the potato thing was kind of fun as well (especially with how accurate the potato I received was).
Sometimes it is necessary to paint the sky black in order to see the stars.
That’s okay. If your too busy don’t feel like you have to read this. Thank you for letting me know where you are.
Okay, thanks for understanding. Maybe once school winds down I could pick it up again.
"No! Monkeys should have pets, all monkeys should have pets!"
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