I Love It, But I'm Biased...

Morning, y'all! It's already hot as blazes in the Deep South this morning, and I've already been almost killed on my scooter on the way to work, and my cat—the outside cat, who has already had about a grand's worth of doctor visits—is back in the vet to treat an abscess on her tail. Yeesh.

On mornings like this one, how do you even know where to start? Can you trust your emotions, your decisions? Most importantly—to us writer folk—can you be be a true judge of your own work?

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but when I'm having a bad day, eventually I start to feel bad about everything: myself, my writing, etc. Whereas when I'm feeling good about myself, looking over the same writing brings me a sense of joy and accomplishment. Maybe I'm a little moodier than the average person (I am a cancer, we can be crabby, lol!), but I know there are times when I can't trust my own opinion, and that usually has something to do with my ego.

I'll let you in on a little secret, though. Come closer. I won't bite. (Although I didn't eat breakfast this morning, so if you have any granola in your pockets or anything, that would be magical!)

Since I stopped comparing myself to other writers/authors/NYT Bestselling authors, my bad days seem to be fewer and farther between. At least, the days where I've deflated my own ego with jealousy and feelings of inadequacy, anyway. Now if I could just get traffic and the heat and my cat to cooperate!

There's still one problem, though. Sometimes, when I'm reading this new stuff I've been writing (42K words, woohoo!), I start to get excited. Like, heart pounding-pulse racing-butterflies-in-the-stomach-OMGWTFBBQ-THISISTHEBESTTHINGSINCEHARRRYPOTTERMWAHAHAHAHA!!!

ahem.

What I mean to say is, is feeling too good about your work a bad thing? As long as I've got betas to bring me back down again, I'm not sure it is. I love that sense of being in love with a manuscript, particularly one I've read, re-read, edited and revised so many times. It's a little magic of it's own, that writer's high, that elusive feeling that this time will be the one!

So what do you all think? Can being too in-love with your manuscript be a detriment? Or is it a moot point, since the honeymoon never lasts that long anyway? ;)

I'd love to hear your thoughts!