How do you do it?

Last week I wrote that writers are vain and have large egos.  I said that this was essential, as you could not be a writer without both the belief that your work is good enough, and the desire to be known as a writer.

And now the flip-side.  To be a writer, you need vanity and ego.  But in order to write, you must set-aside your ego and become humble, without vanity.

If your ego is so great that you believe your work is wonderful, you will never accept any criticism, nor will you accept that your work can be improved.  I have, in the past, had what I deemed to be very unfair criticism (anyone who reads what you write and says “you’re rubbish” but can offer no specifics, is being unfair, no matter how bad the piece).  I have also had some very constructive criticism.  I discounted the former, which was given purely to discourage me, and took on board the latter, which was given in a spirit of helping my writing to improve.

And that’s what criticism ought to be – help.  A large ego will reject all offers of help, because a large ego says “why do I need help, I am brilliant”.  If you will not be open to the opinions of those who will read your work, what will you think of the opinions of agents, publishers, fellow writers?  So, as a writer, your ego will help you overcome negative thoughts and petty criticism.  When it comes to your writing, lose the ego.  The unpublished louche at the end of the bar who brags about his misunderstood genius has an ego that stilts his writing.  The published author who knows they are good, also knows they are good because they listened to fellow professionals when they said that this chapter could be improved, the motivations of that character seem weak, that this scene might have more impact if X, Y and Z happened.

Editing is an admission that your first draft is not good enough.  Every subsequent re-write is an admission that the last version was not your best work.  An ego that cannot accept that at times you are not the greatest writer ever does not redraft, does not rewrite, and so does not improve.

Your vanity will feed on compliments.  But you do not improve by your compliments but by acting on your criticisms.  Vanity does not hear criticism.  So move beyond your vanity, and set aside your ego.  When you want to be a writer, summon them.  But when you want to write, set them aside.