How To Know If You're Any Good

Shannon Dittemore is the author of the Angel Eyes trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. For more about Shan, check out her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Many of you have left me questions in the comments section of recent posts. I LOVE these. They are wonderful for prompting timely articles. Please keep leaving me your ideas. I go through them and make a list, so if I haven't gotten to your question yet, rest assured, I have it here and I'll do my best to get your questions answered.

Today, I thought I'd tackle several of them in one post. It's easy to do because many of you have asked variations of the same question:

Some of you were more specific than others. You asked, "How do I know if my climax is any good?" and "How do I know if my characters are strong enough?" and "How do I know if I'm a good writer?"

There's such an urgency in these questions, isn't there? Even when I ask them of myself. It's this deep, desperate, very basic, insanely difficult to pinpoint insecurity in our gut that bleeds the words: Do I have what it takes?

As I chewed on this question, my first thought was this: You won't know you're any good unless someone tells you.

And then I thought, what an awful thing to tell teenagers! We shouldn't ever base our pursuits on the fickle opinions of others, especially where art is concerned, especially when we're fifteen.

And yet, there is truth to it. Even if the SOMEONE you receive affirmation from is only ever you.


Answer these questions:

1. Who do you need accolades from?

and

2. If you don't EVER receive those accolades, are you happy writing for yourself?


If the person you want affirmation from is in your life, be brave, give them your work, ask them to read it. Ask them, "Is it any good?"


If you need accolades along with a paycheck and you're sincerely hoping to get both of those from a publishing house, you're going to have to do the hard work of getting your writing in front of an agent and then an editor. In doing so you're asking, again and again, "Is it any good?"

Before you get there, of course, before you reach your target audience, it is always a good idea to get feedback from others. Call it self-esteem practice, if you want. Email that poem of yours to a few writer pals and be brave. Ask them, "Is it any good?"

They may say, "No. It needs work." And your heart will deflate a bit, but YOU'RE A WRITER! Rejection in its many forms is just part of the gig. You keep moving forward and you learn after a while that some opinions are worth more than others. And some should never matter at all. And you don't need to please EVERY audience to be successful.

It's so hard.

And it's so simple.

And it never, ever, ever stops being both of those things.

True story: I just, today, like five hours ago, received an email from my agent. It was a good email. A glorious email. An email worth framing. She told me my manuscript was GOOD. And I nearly knocked my ten year old out of the way in my haste to read the note more fully.

I don't know a single writer who's ever conquered the mountain of self-doubt completely. And perhaps you can rest in that. That you're not alone in your wonderings. You're not alone in your need to know, in the hope of pleasing a rapt audience.

It is normal to hope you're good.

It is better to work toward that goal.

And it is sublime when you can find joy in writing for yourself.

So tell me, did I help at all or did I just muddle this whole thing for you?