I tried to write a SF novel decades ago. I stopped 300 pages in because I re-read what I wrote and it was awful.
Some people are talented at writing. I’m not one of them. The key to realizing whether you are or not is to let a good amount of time pass after you wrote something, then re-read it critically as if you were reading someone you never read before: if you find it boring, you can be 100% certain it’ll be boring to everybody else.
And you have to be willing to acknowledge that you suck at writing too, which is not terribly pleasant.
But I take comfort in knowing that in this day and age, when people can’t read anything without being told how many minutes it will take until their ADD kicks in beforehand, and AI debasing the arts everywhere, I’d be even sadder to be a good writer who can’t make a living out of it anymore.
I tried to write a SF novel decades ago. I stopped 300 pages in because I re-read what I wrote and it was awful.
Some people are talented at writing. I’m not one of them. The key to realizing whether you are or not is to let a good amount of time pass after you wrote something, then re-read it critically as if you were reading someone you never read before: if you find it boring, you can be 100% certain it’ll be boring to everybody else.
And you have to be willing to acknowledge that you suck at writing too, which is not terribly pleasant.
But I take comfort in knowing that in this day and age, when people can’t read anything without being told how many minutes it will take until their ADD kicks in beforehand, and AI debasing the arts everywhere, I’d be even sadder to be a good writer who can’t make a living out of it anymore.
Best writing advice I ever got was that all first-draft writing sucks; it only gets good after re-writing/revising.
I was told this about writing fiction, but I’ve also found it true for academic writing.