Introverts with Arrogance

Posted By on October 18, 2013

Writers are a funny mix of introvert and arrogance. Maybe I should say writing requires a funny mix of both traits. We work alone. I have to remind myself to go out in the world and be around real people instead of spending all my time with folks made out of fiction. I once heard someone else describe a writing conference as a gathering of introverts pretending to be extroverts.

And we write characters. We know how to pretend to be someone else. For a limited time. I always need a long nap after being-with-people time.  :-)

However, we all think we have words the world might want to share. We have stories that others want to read. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t be writing for publication. We’d all be shoving our pages beneath the bed and never looking at them again.

How much confidence does that require? But most writers I know are not riddled with confidence. A bad review, a rejection, a bad day at the computer or notepad can unman us. We forget the success. It falls away as if it never happened. Only the fear remains–that we’re frauds, that someone made a mistake buying our books because secretly, we don’t know what the heck we’re doing.

It’s a strange job, and it can be unkind. Our characters learn during the course of a book. Learn to forgive, to take a risk, to love. For today, I’m risking the belief that I know what I’m doing. I’m learning a character lesson. Yay!

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Comments

2 Responses to “Introverts with Arrogance”

  1. Karen W says:

    You hit the nail exactly on the head! I had to force myself to enter the Rita’s this year, and even then I only entered three of my books – not the one that woman sent me the horrible emails on. How foolish is that?

  2. admin says:

    It’s crazy, Karen! Because that is one fine book. I love that book! Is it too late to rethink not entering it?

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