Blogging Challenge P(ride)

Pride can be a good thing ... or a bad thing. We saw much trouble it caused for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Colin Firth is the epitomy of Mr. Darcy, btw.

Pride has a lot of interesting synonyms as found on thesaurus.com:

amour-propre, delight, dignity, ego, ego trip, egoism, egotism, face, gratification, happiness, honor, joy, pleasure, pridefulness, repletion, satisfaction, self-admiration, self-confidence, self-glorification, self-love, self-regard, self-respect, self-satisfaction, self-sufficiency, self-trust, self-worth, sufficiency

I've bolded the ones I think have the most positive connotations. I think it's important that writers have some pride because it's tied so closely to self esteem, which we need to have if we wish to take risks. You know what I mean. The risks like the first time you let someone read what you've written and you open yourself to hurt and ridicule. Or the time you finally send out a query, knowing--KNOWING--that you will be rejected. Until I started writing I never realized what a hazardous trade it could be. But pride is also a reflection on the quality of the work we wish to share with others.

Pride also has negative connotations. Unlike Athena, writers don't spring fully formed with flawless grammar, brilliant plot ideas, delightful character development, and an unlimited vocabulary. It takes a lot of work to learn the craft--and a willingness to take feedback.

We need to be confident in what we write, but we also need to be teachable, which can mean humble. So one of a writer's balancing acts is to have pride (confidence) while being humble.

That's no small feat.



Do you struggle with pride and being teachable? Are you too teachable, finding it difficult to stand up to criticism and therefore are forever trying to change your work to be what others want it to be?

How do you find the balance?