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Journeys In Writing
Are writers their own worst critics?
I recently took some time to read through a number of articles and posts I have written over the past 5 years. It seems, the further back I traveled, the more critical I became of my writing. Is this just me or is this common to all writers? I recall an interview conducted with Woody Allen some years ago where he said he was never happy with anything he had written or produced.
“I’ve never been satisfied or even pleased with a film that I’ve done. I make them, I’m finished, I’ve never looked at one after. I don’t like them because there’s a big gap between what you conceive in your mind when you’re writing and you don’t have to meet the test of reality. You’re home, you write and it’s funny and beautiful and romantic and dramatic, and then you have to show up on a cold morning, and you don’t have enough of this and this goes wrong and you make the wrong choice on something and you screwed up and you can’t go back.”
The issue with writing is; “time goes by” and what was relevant one day is not the next. People, points of view and society changes. It’s as simple as that. And as time goes by, our tastes change, our ideas change, we take on new information. We meet interesting new people who may or may not impart information that we can take on — or reject. If we take it on, then it is sure to change how we think or approach…
