The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge this week is “words to live by.”
That can cover a lot, so in my post I’ve narrowed it down to words to live by regarding writing.
To me, this saying is most important:
You can’t please everyone, so please yourself.
As a writer, I quickly learned the truth of those words. No matter what you write, there will always be people who like it and people who hate it. There will always be those who don’t connect with your characters, plot, writing style, or word choice. There will be people who are upset with themselves and try to ease their frustration by tearing into the work of others. There will be people who offer criticism to genuinely help writers improve or readers select entertaining stories. If you try to please everyone you will end up depressed and too overly cautious to write a word. I’ve learned to take what’s useful from criticism and forget about the rest.
At the end of the day, I’m the one who has to enjoy my writing–or not. I’m the one who chooses to write because it makes me happy or give it up because my stories, characters, choices, or sales don’t live up to someone else’s expectations.
I choose write because it’s part of who I am.
What about you? What words do you live by?
To find out what words other blog hop participants live by, please visit Long and Short Reviews.
I love this…. and it’s oh-so-true.
This is a great quote!
This is something I still need to learn!
Great quote. I’m still learning to do this.
I agree with this. Not easy to remember when you’re writing.