WARNING: DON'T FALL IN LOVE

A madly in love teenager is predisposed to defiance despite constant reminders. So it takes fervent prayer and sensitivity to counsel a client as this. “Love is stronger than a raging torrent!” elders in my time would always say to anyone who’s head over heels.

If this is a metaphor, then I’d still use it for comparison’s sake – a completely in love teenager and a writer who is too attached to his writing.

The tendency is that, if one is very much in love with his piece (an article for instance), he’s also vulnerable to defiance without being opened to any corrections. I was told once – Don’t fall in love with your own writing.

I took heed to this warning since then, without hesitation. If I didn’t, my life as a writer could have been stagnant - the worst mess could have happened.

For this important reason, I remind myself of this pitfall every so often. If I don’t, then I will not be able to see what others see or understand the perspective of others.

What’s the use of a peer?

Well, I leave it to you to think of the answers. For sure, we’re all aware of the existences of these words “edit” and “editor” in the dictionary – to counteract this defying gravity or to remind us simply the danger of one-sidedness.

No offense, but I do see a lot of writers on cloud nine – deeply, incredibly in love with his/her finished product, unpolished. Sad to say, no matter how I tried to be of help, it’s pointless – they are so defiant – not wanting to learn anything.

When people asked me to edit their write-ups, they wrestled with the idea of polishing. The worst, they are afraid of changes. Actually, I was not trying to change the structure, but I was only suggesting possibilities – from grammar to concept and to creativity.

So it’s like having someone around who is madly in love and so unreceptive to nuggets of wisdom. When I told them to do things differently, the next time they write one, it’s the same old thing. That’s the real challenge!

“What’s the point of coming to me anyway?” I asked in silence.

Some of these in-love-writers are great pretenders. They pretend to seek advice or a piece of idea, but actually not. No matter how much important things you laid down to share, at the end of the day, they’re just clanging cymbals.  It’s really crazy!

Sorry about that, but I give further elaboration no more – I only have one intention to bring – like those who told me once – a warning: Don’t fall in love with your own writing.