Mormon Mommy Writers and Friends

Multiple Personality Dis... Our Constantly Changing Perspective

By Lacey Gunter

Hey MMWs, if you're anything like me, you have a complicated relationship with your manuscripts. Sometimes when I read one of my manuscripts I think it is awesome. I am sure it will make a great childrens book and I am really excited about trying to get it published.

A couple of months later I will read that same manuscript and think, "Uugh, what did I think was so great about this manuscript? It needs a lot of work" I will be disgusted with it and brain storm about how to fix it, or worse, not want to even to look at it or think about it.

Time will pass and someone will ask me about the same manuscript. I will pull it out to try and fix it and think "Hey, this manuscript is pretty good. Why did I think it was so bad? It was really funny." Then I will get excited about it all over again.

Whether the manuscript is truly good or not is difficult to say. It is also not the topic I want to write about. What interests me is how our perception of our writing and our stories is affected by our current emotional status, our outlook and the experiences were are having at the moment.

When we are grouchy or unhappy with ourselves or our current situation, that affects how we react to and interpret the things that happen to us.  It will also affect how we view our writing or our stories. Likewise when we are happy, excited, worried, whatever.

I am sure that this information comes as no surprise to any of you. But how often do we take this into consideration when we are getting feedback on our work from critique partners and reviewers? No matter how good our story or writing is, we should expect that some of that feedback we get will be negative; if for no other reason that the fact that the people who are looking at our work are human and will have good days and bad days that color the way they see and interpret the world.

So think about that the next time your get a critique or review that totally rips apart everything you have done. Stop, take a breath, calm down, go to sleep, and wake up and look at it from a new perspective. It is constantly changing.