‘Is it good enough?’
That question seems to pop up a lot on these forums. Often followed by ‘…to go on’. I am curious as to why.

It’s always seemed to me that it was a moot question. ‘Going on’ has always depended on whether I enjoyed writing it or not, not whether it made a good read. Everything is laughably bad on a first draft: plots have holes the size of grapefruits, characters have too many good points or too many bad ones, dialogue is cheesy, commas start to take over sentences with totalitarian rule, basic grammar is only dust in the wind, and what the heck is a semi-colon?
And that goes for everyone. Even Mr. Tolkein, Mrs. Rowling (Is it Ms? Is she married?), Mr. King, and every great author you can think of needs to edit their first drafts.

What I mean to say is that a first draft is a first draft because it’s made to be become better. That’s what the magic of editing is for.
As long as you enjoyed writing it, as long as you have a story in you, it’s worth going on. No matter how bad the first draft is.

So, for those of you who’ve written that statement before: What did you mean by it? Did you need ideas to go on? Were you inviting edits? Were you looking for a yes or no answer? (My answer is always ‘yes’ by the way. =] )
I’d love to hear your thoughts behind it.

Even for those of you who haven’t, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

To me, when people ask "Is this good enough to go on?" or "Should I finish this?" Or even just "Is this a good idea? Should I write it?" They're looking for attention. It's like sending up a big red warning flare that they're not writing for the sake of writing, but they're writing for attention. They're writing so someone will read it and leave them ego stroking comments.

I'm sure that some people will argue that that's not the case, but it's really hard to think otherwise. As Nolori said, if you're writing and you like your idea why not continue? What difference does the opinion of others make? I might ask people what they think of a piece during the writing process, but I'm looking for actual feedback on what's there, not a value statement that will determine if I do or do not finish a project.

Bottom line, I think this question is just a trick for attention, a desperate search for approval and validation. That is what that question means to me.

I think that's the case most of the time, unfortunately. But, I don't know, part of me is always hoping it just an ill-phrased 'please edit me' request.

It is good to know that it's not just me whose slightly bothered by the question. When I want to edit a peice, I never know how to actually reply to the actual question. Doesn't everyone say 'yes'? Is there anyone who has ever actually said 'no'?

To be honest, I wish people would post more 'please edit' or something along those lines. It's so much more re-assuring that I'm doing something people will actually want/accept.

But for people who work with words, you'd hope they'd be able to use them better than to say one thing and mean something completely different. I guess I'm just really cynical these days. I'm been slogging through the fan writing circuit for ten years now and it feels like it's getting worse and not better. Grammar and overall quality are slipping and people are writing for attention, for comments, to be famous on the internet and stuff. Whatever happened to writing for fun?

I've always been bothered by that question. I've always hated how that's the stuff that clogs up writing sections of forums. I always want to say "If you have to ask, just stop now." But I don't. I'd like to see more actual discussions happen in writing forums, not this constant search for attention and validation.

And the worst part of it all is that when you offer opinions or suggestions for improvement, any sort of constructive criticism really, people freak out! They don't want it. They don't want to hear it. They stick their fingers in their ears and start humming because they only want to hear nice things and have their egos stroked. How annoying.

Obviously, I'm just cranky and cynical. Damn kids, get off my lawn! :illgetu:

Och. Of all the places to be slogging through. I'm sorry to hear that. I don't read much fan-work, but for what I have read, I know what you mean. On the slimmer of a bright note however, it also seems to me that when you do find a good piece of writing in there it tends to be remarkably good.

I was really worried about people freaking out about having their work edited here on Menewsha, actually. But I don't know how else to give advice, so I went ahead and did it. I've been lucky thus far and not met anyone here whose really snapped back about it.
Two people have even actually gone back and edited! Menewsha seems to either bring in good people, or bring out the best.

I will say though that I am a little surprised by how slow this forum is, especially in the way of replies. I can understand not being too keen on sharing your work (especially if it's near and dear), but you'd think a place solely based on writing what you're thinking (as is the nature of an internet forum) would have a larger reply rate for writing. =\

-Proceeds to run a stick across your fence- Nyhahaha!

Well, I like fanfiction, but there is a lot of slogging involved. And you're right, when you find the diamond in the rough, you can find some really really shiny diamonds :D

I guess you've gotten lucky. It seems lately that nobody wants to hear anything other than flat out praise for their masterpieces. I've seen people make clubs dedicated to posting their writing that absolutely flat out refuse to accept Concrit.

People are quite ridiculous sometimes. If you never accept concrit, you never improve. I will never understand that mentality. If you do something, it's worth doing right! So get the skills necessary to do better. That's my philosophy anyway. People who are content to never improve, never get better are like weird alien beings to me. o.o

May I ask if you write fanfiction? If so, what for?

Are those clubs here on Mene? Goodness, I evidentially missed those all together. o.o
If they aren't (oh goodness, I hope not), where were they?

I agree whole-heartedly. Granted, I understand needing to go through some, how do I put this, easy concrit first. Going from being hopelessly proud of your work straight to the wolves is a terrible experience. And I totally understand how having a terrible first experience like that can make you question yourself.

But, what I really don't understand is if that's happened why throw things out there for people to ever read?

Personally, I think people who completely refuse concrit. and then post their work (and usually preen themselves) just make themselves look silly. I find myself wondering if other people notice besides me. =\ (And probably you. Haha.)

i don't get what you are saying...explain it to me again please
thank you!

What I mean is this:

There are a lot of people who ask 'is it good enough to continue' or something to that effect on this forum. My question is why does that matter? If you enjoyed writing it you should continue, regardless of what others think of it.
If you aren't writing because you enjoy it, then I don't understand why you're writing.

I do write fanfiction, for pretty much anything that strikes my fancy. I read a lot of manga and sometimes write for that, sometimes for movies or books.

No, the clubs I referred to aren't on Mene. They're at other places. Mene's already nice enough.

Well, if you're going to give really good constructive criticism, you have to point out the good and the bad. "You did this well, I really liked it, but you also need to work on this." If it's all negative, then it's no longer constructive, it's just nitpicky and bitchy and nobody likes that. But still, some people can't take it even if it is constructive. Too many thin skinned people these days I guess.

People who refuse concrit and post poorly produced products merely for attention are pretty pathetic. Most people realize that, but then there are those people just like them that stroke their ego and expect a stroke in return or something. It's pretty baffling to me really. =P

I don't think it's very baffling. The whole, you scratch my back I scratch yours concept comes into play there. They're getting an ego boost from each other. It looks bad to us because doing that is an obvious indication of how desperate they are for the attention.

Writing is a way to convey a series of thoughts, feelings, ideas and concepts to other people. My poetry is a way to tell other people how I'm feeling. It's for the reader to relate to. Writing is all about the reader. We give advice to the writers on how to make their writing easier to read. Writing is about artful communication, not knowing whether or not it's "good enough". Honestly, I've never read something that was completely perfect. There's always room for improvement and there is no line where it's absolutely perfect. Why? Because different readers are not going to read the same writing exactly the same. When you put different opinions together with backgrounds, lifestyles, humanity, one person is going to think one thing while another thinks the opposite. I'm not talking about grammar, I'm talking about the overall piece. Words tend to convey, it's not like a definition where it's... well definite. Writing is open to interpretation much of the time. The only way to really define a piece of writing as "perfect" is if every reader understood and saw every piece of that book the same way the writer did. Which is impossible.

I apologize, I kind of carried on with that little bit. =3

I actually really enjoyed your answer. I'm glad you replied!

That being said, I don't entirely agree that writing is all about the reader. While I think a large part of it is, especially any kind of publishing, even (if not especially) on the internet. I don't think that writing the original draft is about the reader. The original draft is for me. I want to get to know the character. I want this story out of my head. I want to write.

I think stories that are all about the reader from the get-go tend to lack a certain degree of love that more often than not can, and will, make it to the reader. Because when they're for the reader from the get-go, then usually seem to be in it for the money. =\

I agree about the conveying of ideas though.