"It's Good"

Don’t tell me I am good! Good implies there is room for improvement, but that you don’t want to tell me, probably out of politeness, why I am not great, excellent, or phenomenal. Good is approachable. Good is an acceptable place to stop. Good is the gateway to resisting change. Good implies the possibility of change; but if it doesn’t, that is ok. Good is stagnation that will get me lost in contented adequacy.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I loathe when I have written a work I have poured myself into and offered up for judgement only to get “it's good” for feedback. Someone is lying! I am no Hemmingway. I cannot nail a sentiment on a first draft, nor can I cover pages in eloquent perfectly crafted sentences on a first go. I know I have shortcomings. Where those shortcomings are I am unsure. That is why I turn it over to the fresh eyes of people I feel have the literary abilities I am lacking.

“It is good” tells me something was wrong with it. Why aren’t you telling me what is wrong with it? Are you afraid of insulting me, maybe? Well, I am insulted more by “it is good.” When I hear “it is good” on these drafts, my first thought is you didn’t read it. My second thought is that you didn’t want to give me pointers. Are you afraid perhaps I will judge you on your tips or corrections? You think I am going to fight you for helping me? That too is insulting. It is an insult on my judgment and it is an insult to my character. If I came to you, I trusted you enough to ask for your help, which is something I hate doing by the way. Plus, I can tell if someone is just maliciously ripping my work apart verses making the proper correction so that I am not left embarrassed by my literary deficiencies.

This brings me to my next point: “It is good” is as good as a green light for me. I don’t want to insult you and expose you to my mistrust. I am not going to say, “did you really read it?” or “are you sure there are no corrections I need to make?” You are my friend, and I came to you for help. Why would you ever lead me astray? I have to believe you, especially when I can’t see through all of my weak points, so I publish it. This has happened to me before, to my shame, because people who really do read it pick apart that “good” work. It leaves me more self-conscious than if you had just told me, it was drivel. I know, though, I have to learn and practice and teach myself. The fault lays firmly on my shoulders for publishing only “good” work.

Still, I cannot learn without being corrected. I would prefer to give my heart’s works to people I trust for correction. They can understand better than strangers where I am coming from and know how to better guide me than an outsider. However, I will subject myself to the caprice of strangers if need be. Over time perhaps I will develop skills that will put me beyond the need of help, but I am not afraid to admit, right now, I am not that good! I need HELP, and I will probably continue to need help!

On the flips side, I recognize you might genuinely think it is good, but you can’t pinpoint why it is not great. That’s fine. Let me know what was drawing enough to elevate the story from average or bad. Then I can cultivate what I did right to possibly make my writing better.

Overall, I think of my writing the same way I do my story development. Does a perfectly happy character in a good life change? No and it makes for a really boring story, so please do the right thing! Be the voice of evil! Be the devil's advocate! Be the catalyst of change! Tear my sentence down and dissect my story into oblivion, so that I can Frankenstein the pieces back together and make something wonderful or different.