Taking Time

Why is it that when you've finished a writing project, given it all you have, and made it the best you can make it, a teacher, editor or writing group can tear it apart and find all kinds of fault? Shouldn't your effort yield more favorable responses and why does your writing look so good to you when it doesn't to others? These are perplexing questions for all writers. It's disheartening to put so much effort into our creations only to have them criticized by others. But there is a reason why this happens and happens so frequently. When you're writing something, you get engrossed in it to the point that you're focusing on the minutest of details as you work to pull your ideas together into a coherent flow. This is a good thing because it means you're minding the details and being thorough in your approach to writing. But it also means that you may be so lost in the small things that you're no longer able to see the larger picture. In other words, while the intricacies of your work may be solid, there may be larger structural issues that you're blind to but that are obvious to others. For example, your descriptive details in a story may be exemplary, but your plot may wander from the story line. The reason you can't see this is because you're too close to the story, too involved in it, to be able to step back and look at it with objective distance. This is a common problem for writers and one that can be overcome by allowing yourself some time away from a work before finalizing it. Taking time off between the rough drafts and the final draft you submit for grading or publication and allowing yourself to look at it with fresh eyes and a more detached review can go a long way toward giving you the objectivity you need to effectively polish your own work.