Saturday, January 24, 2009

Confidence

I love the blog The Alchemy of Writing and read it often.
Today the post was: Confidence: A Scam?

I wanted to share just a small part of what Ink said.

"Studies have shown that people suffering mild depression actually see themselves more accurately than those who aren't (though they also rate others higher than they should). It's interesting, and not a little disturbing: most of us are deluding ourselves, at least a little. But to me it's also confirming. Human endeavor is about moving forward, about what might be rather than simply what is. Human advancement is often based on a sort of blind faith, even if only in ourselves, in what we migth do or become. It's a matter of self-belief."

I couldn't agree more. This is the comment I left:

Beautifully written.

I have to say, that when I started writing, I loved my story. I thought it was good. A friend read it and cut out chapter upon chapter of throat-clearing drivel. Instead of taking offense, I listened to what she had to say. I learned from the knowledge she had gained from others.

In writing, as with life, if you can't learn and grow watching others, taking advice, you are destined to the mistakes others have faced.

I love to learn. That is a part of writing. It is also a part of where my confidence comes in. Am I any better than the other writers of Nathan's blog, who knows? Did I say that I thought I was? Yep. :)

And I believe for the same reasons you expressed so eloquently here. Because of faith and belief.
My husband often tells me that I don't live in reality. That my head is stuck in the clouds. I understand that bad things happen. I just chose to not focus on them. At least not for long. If belief in myself means living in the clouds, then I don't mind.

Come join me, the air is clean on fluffy Cloud 9.
:)

6 comments:

Luc2 said...

Hi Sarah, my first time here. :)

I think in the US, self-confidence is an important part of culture. It's part of the training, and fits in the competitive nature of the American society.

Here in the Netherlands, we are much more self-depreciating, and self-confidence is often regarded as arrogance. In some cases that is true, bot so often not.

Asd you point out, however, self- confidence can be self-destructive if it keeps a person from listening to the advice of others, and that person loses the urge to learn. As in almost all things in life, it's about finding a balance.

I didn't find myself better than other writers on Nathan's blog. I don't think I need to be. Not all good writers get published, and not all published writers are good. I just focus on continuing to love writing and improve my writing, and to persevere.

Sarah Jensen said...

And that Luc, I believe is the key.

Confidence in your ability can only take you so far. But you must have some in order to continue to try.

And your modesty is probably why you write so well. For me, at least in my opinion, arrogance takes away from the beauty of work. You can tell those who write out of love, and those who write to make a buck.

And I still hold by my statement, you write beautiful.

Thanks for visiting my blog. :)

Anonymous said...

The greatest achievement of any human is that we rise after we fall and we succeed!

Ceylan

Sarah Jensen said...

Well put Ceylan! No wonder I love you!

Samantha said...

I'll join you on cloud nine...after I finish my MS!

GAH!

And I agree. We have to be confident as writers - accepting the good with the bad. Imagine? If people didn't crit our work honestly, improvements wouldn't be made. And aren't you so proud when you make great leaps and strides? I am. That's where my confidence comes from. I'm sure that there are tons of people who don't "listen," nor "learn" and guess what?

Nope, you don't have to guess...

Sarah Jensen said...

so true, so true.