Hello,
This might sound a little silly to ask, but do you guys ever have moments where you just want to throw out your drafts or shove your un published novels aside and call it quits ?
I mean I had just finished printing out a few pages I was about to edit, and found out I wasn't accepted in a literature program for college. It just crushed me. :(
Amanda,
I have read some of your work and there is nothing lacking with your imagination and story telling skills that practice won't make perfect. The course you chose was probably not the right one for you, that's all. Something better suited will turn up, but this don't let this have any bearing on your progress as a writer.You do have issues with grammar and spelling so perhaps a course along these lines would be better suited for now. We write, and we learn to write as we write, and that never changes. There will always be someone who takes something positive away from reading your work, and the opposite is true, so all we can do is write the best we can, and find that your best will get better in time.
Love your comment about Jean Rhys Melanie.
I am glad she was unhappy, otherwise, she would not have written the brilliant, Wide Sargasso Sea.
Amanda, George Orwell said,
'Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.'
Keep going and Good Luck.
Yes, I often feel like giving up! Writing is VERY hard work!!! Especially if you want to get it right. Someone once asked Jean Rhys if she had any regrets and she said: 'Yes, I would rather have been happy than be a writer.' Trouble is, if I don't write, I feel something is missing... I start to feel anxious and depressed.
BUT the main reason I'm writing this, is because someone whose opinion I thought I could trust, was not very impressed with a story I wrote - he pulled it apart, and I felt like you - crushed. This same story has since gone on to do very well, in 2 prestigious competitions. So it just shows - some people will not like your work - but others will. Don't let it crush you - keep things in perspective, and more importantly, keep going!!! Sometimes, a person's reaction to your work reflects their own insecurities. This is what I realised, later. And jealousy too, can sometimes play a part. I'm not saying this is the case in your situation, I'm just making a point. Anyway, I suspect that in a few months time (or less) you will have found another literature programme, where the tutors will accept you with open arms... Good luck!