The most demotivating thing I’ve ever been told came from someone who never even read anything I wrote.
This woman actually told me that I didn’t have enough life experience to write a decent story. I was 23 at the time. It made me sad but I didn’t listen to her and kept on writing.
Have you ever been told anything demotivating about your writing?
Did it make you stop writing?
Did it motivate you to try harder?
Hmm, I’ve got told pretty bad things about my stories, but at no moment it made me demotivated, in fact it helped me to push through and become a better writer 
I got told by someone that I had “copied” an existing story.
I hadn’t.
I made up a random name. The character wasn’t in my book. Also made up random events and stuff and they responded with, yeah I think that was their name or yeah that happened.
It was all bs
That my story didn’t have content to enjoy. I got another one saying that it was. sh–tty. it did make me stop writing for a while on episode but I’m becoming more motivated to write again.
Hm… not yet, or at least from what I remember (I have a really bad memory). I’m not really one to share my works, and often when I do, I want real criticisms. I don’t know if I’d be demotivated, because I’m normally cool with people’s opinions lol, but if someone ever does… well, it’s only gonna make me want to do better. I will want to prove them wrong the second time they witness me telling a story.
“Your protagonist is one of those whiners who need to shut the f**k up.”
It actually made me laugh. I expected it from that person (he was a real selfish a-hole), so it was easy to just shrug at it. Then again, I still can’t forget it, so…
I remember getting feedback that while I appericiated it I just didn’t think I could fix it so I thought
Oh with this being the problem I’ll never be a good writer
Obviously this wasn’t true I just needed to look into methods of solving the problem and these days it’s not so bad!
I hated writing when I was in high school, I hated it so much. Every year we would have to write 4 creative essays for my literature class and get grades on them. It was always so demotivating getting bad grades and that just made me hate that class and writing. I just didn’t want to get a grade for something I wrote.
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With a journalism thing back when I still did that degree it kinda felt like everything I presented had some fault or another and the different writing teachers I had always contradicted each other on certain things so I never knew what to do, that was pretty demotivating.
“You’ve been banned from Episode. You have a week to save your stories” xD
I remember when I was 13 years old, I started writing this really cringey novel which had no plot. I once wrote a letter to the publisher, showing them my work and somehow they rejected it because of my age. I was heartbroken and that discouraged me to stop writing a novel.
Then around 2019, I was motivated by doing a lot of research by:
someone who gave me a review of my story. she told me it had too many mistakes to she wanted to keep reading, when I asked what they were she couldn’t tell me that. she didn’t give any helpful advice. I talked about it with other people who read my story, I had many reviews, no one have said anything half as rude. or think my story has mistakes.
she was just been rude.
I’ve been told the same thing (you don’t have enough life experience) but it made complete sense.
Have you ever been told anything demotivating about your writing?
The person who told me this said it differently though: “We can tell this character was written by a young person”. I was trying to write a main character in her 30’s while I’m in my 20’s with a career in medicine, something I know close to nothing about.
Did it make you stop writing? Did it motivate you to try harder?
It 100% made me try harder. This person criticized my work in the best way possible. She was encouraging, praising the good, but still pointing out the bad in a “criticism sandwich”. You know, when you compliment, critique, compliment again, and encourage.
I also learned that, when writing alone, it’s better to remove elements we’re not familiar with to focus on other, fewer ones, and on the story… than to complicate everything for ourselves and make ourselves dive into a pile of research before we even get to writing the damn thing.
I made my character younger and gave her a different job since those were elements that contributed to the story but weren’t essential.
Some time ago people told me I’m not a real writer if I don’t make an outline for my stories. That made me stop writing after hearing it a few times because I really thought they’re right. It took me some time to start writing again and accept that I can do things my own way.
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