It started when I wrote a report for school. It was something I immediately loved writing and finished it in two hours. When it was done I looked over and felt genuinely proud of my work because the report was long and detailed.
My dad saw me and walked over, asking if he could read. I was a little nervous but handed over the papers and let him. After a minute or two he looked up and started complementing me on my work, saying things like "This sounds so professional!" and "It's really well written!". At first I didn't know if he was joking or not, and when I realized he was serious I felt absolutely amazing because it was genuine.
That night I couldn't go to sleep because I was so excited to hear my my mom (teacher) thought of it, and what grade it would get. After hearing my dad talk about it so nicely I felt so proud and wanted to see if my mom liked it too.
Sure enough the next day came and I got up for school. Like always, me and my mom sat down on our couch and began going over my homework from the previous day. When we got to the report part I was so excited and nervous while she read. Finally, after a few minutes she looked up with a big smile and said it was great. I felt so happy that moment, because I know my mom, and if the report was bad she would tell me immediately and start pointing out problems.
Then I did something I thought I'd never do.
"If you think this is good, you should read my stories."
And that was it. She took me up on that offer and I printed out one of my best projects. The project I wanted to show her was (and is) one of the best stories I've written, and I loved writing every minute of it. Obviously she didn't read it right away, in fact it took a day and a half.
The next day around 4:00, my mom was driving me to the gym. On the way there she turns to me with a big smile on her face. I laughed kind of nervously and guessed that she had read my story. Sure enough, she tells me that she read it. I asked her what she thought of it and got one hell of a answer.
She said she'd read it earlier in the day and started crying a little afterwards. I had no idea why she would cry, but didn't say anything. She went on to say that the story was great, and she's love to read more. There were other things said, but that's something I want to keep to myself.
I was so surprised, flattered and overall emotional because for the first time in my life, someone told me they liked my stories without a sarcastic smile. Of course I've been told my stories are good online and on my publishing websites, but this was IRL. I hadn't even explained the background or my story's universe to her, but my mom still liked it. That was something that meant more to me then any friend's opinion or online review. It also meant more to be because she was actually interested in the story, and asked questions about it instead of just reading it, saying it's good, then stopping.
It made me think of something, specifically my fan fictions. Fan fiction was the starting point of my writing, and in the beginning I had lots of fun with it. Over the years writing it became boring and dull. I didn't feel any pride in my fan fictions, just me goofing off and having a jolly time. It all became about pleasing other people, and getting things out quick. No thought or planning went into the work, and even though the finished product was good, it paled in comparison to my originals stories.
Every thing is different when I'm writing my stories. I work hard, spend weeks on a single chapter, edit it, go through the work, have an amazing time writing and planning, researching the facts and looking through the dictionary for new words. And in the end I feel proud of my work, I read it and think "This is good!"
As a writer, I think that if you're not happy with your work, then don't say it's finished. Don't throw it out into the public because you have a dead-line, work on it. Work on it until you're happy with the product! Because if you're not happy with it, then what's the point?
Writing fan fiction wasn't something I took pride in, and looking back at the things I published, it's gross how many bad things I posted. Of course I still like writing fan fiction, in fact I'm working on several, but for now I'm sticking to what I do best.
Ah, that was a good little rant. That's all for now. I leave you with this picture!
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