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5 Ways to Keep That Pesky Writer-Ego Under Control
I had a Zoom meeting last year with a new client who was so busy he needed to outsource a few projects. He seemed nervous at the beginning, but eventually, we got onto the subject of writer ego. His words. He mentioned the need to stick to the brief and not try and turn it into a unique piece of art.
“Are you sure you don’t want it in sonnet form?” I asked.
He laughed, still nervous.
It turns out there’s been some difficulty in the past with writers veering off the brief and onto something more artistic when all he needed was a technical document written in its some digestible format.
Wow, I thought, writer ego in technical writing? Why not, I suppose every genre has its ego issues. Don’t get me started on the theatre! It’s something we all need to battle with, whether in a creative or technical capacity. Negative feedback hurts all of us, but if we want to get to the top of our game, we need to grin and bear it.
“The Cave You Fear To Enter Holds The Treasure You Seek — I love this quote by Joseph Cambell, first heard of from the screenwriting guru Scott Myers. It’s something I apply to all of my fictional characters because internal conflict is at the heart of all interesting people, the intersection of fear and desire.
