Fellow Tenner and local author friend Denise Jaden made this post today about focusing on what we love about our writing, instead of picking at ourselves over what needs improvement.  As she says:

As writers, I think we spend a lot of time thinking about the areas we need to improve. And that’s necessary, it really is, but I don’t think we take enough time to balance out the scale and spend some focus on what we do well. Many a motivational speaker will tell you that what you focus on will be what flourishes in your life, and so it makes sense that if all we ever do is pick ourselves apart, our faults might just get worse instead of better.

I completely agree!  So today I’m making a list of what I love about my writing.  I can’t even remember the last time I made a list like this or really even thought about it.  And it’s important to think about it.  I think in our culture, and especially in the writing culture, berating yourself for never being good enough is the norm.  How can you be getting better if you’re patting yourself on the back?  I still remember in creative writing class (BARF) when the teacher said it was good that we were all making mistakes because that gave us so much to learn from. O__o  Honestly?  I don’t learn from mistakes nearly as well as I learn from someone who’s done something really well.  But that’s another post for another day, so onto what I love about my writing!

–I LOVE my voice.  Whichever character it is, even though they’re different from each other, they’re all still very me.  And, in a way, I get to be them for a while.

–I love reading my own writing.  I’ve known artists who could never stand their own work, whether it was visual art or writing or whatever, and while that might make them strive to get better, the thing is, it wasn’t a matter of being good enough or not.  And I know at least some of them gave up and stopped making art.  So I take the fact that I love reading my stuff as a good thing.  No matter what happens, I’ll always have at least one reader.

–I love my characters.  This ties into voice too, at least for the POV characters, but I love the others, too.  I love how over the top they can be, how realistic and down to earth, how funny or sad or angry.  I love that they’re all great people to spend time with.

–I love that I’m a fast writer.  And that I write better when I’m writing fast rather than slow.

–I love that I write about boys.  I don’t know why girl MCs fall flat for me when writing, but they do, and the boys take center stage.  Sometimes I wish I could write girl books, because maybe they’d be easier sells, but the truth is, I love writing about boys, and I love that I love it.

–I love that my books are quirky and campy.  I need the camp.  Without it, I am bored to tears.

–I love that I write great action scenes.  I dread writing them, which I think is part of why they end up working out so well.  Once I get to them, I just want to get them over with, which means they don’t drag on.

And… that’s probably enough love for now!  Go check out Denise’s post and tell her what you love about your writing!