hubris-mwe July 30/12

They say that pride goeth before a fall. Some people have too much pride in their work for something that should have been jettisoned to the waste basket or left on the cutting room floor. There were tonnes of books and movies that should never have been written or made but it was the over-weening hubris of the creator that brought them to light. I am strong enough to say my practicality outweighs the pride when the book is garbage I would rather do an extreme rewrite than put out something I know will get panned. I want to be proud of my writing just as an architect wants to be proud of his designs. The guys who built Gregs house must have been smoking funny things at the time to realize they had screwed up.

Comments: 7

JOHN BECK Aug 3, 2012, 9:54am UTC

This surprises me. My impression was that you didn't take pride in your writing, leaving that to your editors and proof readers. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing. I'm not being harsh, just trying to reconcile what you say here to what you've said in the past.

karen vaughan Aug 3, 2012, 12:01pm UTC

I am a good writer as far as content. i just don't edit well.

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Pam Brittain Aug 3, 2012, 5:12pm UTC

Karen, I don't edit well either. I am learning more and more thanks to John and others on Gather.

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Benita K. Aug 3, 2012, 6:12pm UTC

Editing is the bane of my life. But so worthy while as it becomes another tool for learning. My husband often said my orginal versions of poems were his choice.

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Greg Schiller Aug 4, 2012, 2:11pm UTC

I am not much of a copy-editor either. One of these days, I will even learn where the commas go - but there is something else to consider here. Pride is a two edged sword. It can tempt us to publish what we shouldn't but it can also intimidate us to not publishing what we should.

karen vaughan Aug 4, 2012, 2:40pm UTC

true enough

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Patricia J. Aug 9, 2012, 3:17am UTC

I believe that fresh eyes catch more mistakes because the writer knows what he or she wants to say and can overlook real mistakes for that reason. I always proof read backwards to catch errors such as the need for commas or apostrophes, etc. Then I proofread forward for content!!

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hubris-mwe July 30/12

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