I don't believe there is anything wrong with accepting that your work needs improvement. Knowing that your character development could use some tweaking. Or realizing that you do a little too much telling rather than showing. Or that your dialogue doesn't flow smoothly. Heck, not everyone can grab ideas from their head and execute them on paper so easily. For some of us it takes a billion tries.
But in those billion tries just remember there is nothing wrong with being unsatisfied and wanting to fix problems (like the ones listed above), but there is definitely something wrong with being unsatisfied and wanting to give up the ghost or quit. Nuh uh, not cool my friends, not cool at all.
Let me give you an example. Us writers have a knack for strolling right on into Gloomy Grove whenever we receive harsh (but you know it's true) criticism or form/blunt rejections from literary agents, editors, or critique partners. I remember when my father's friend read my novel and days later he had a mouth full of feedback for me, both positive and negative. And I'm not going to lie...for a minute there he was no longer my favorite. I didn't think of him as a cool Uncle anymore because he was being way too honest with me (I mean he's ALWAYS way too honest with me to the point of embarrassment, but still!) and I didn't want to hear it. However...I NEEDED IT!
And that's what writers need to realize when facing rejections or criticism--you need the advice, silly! I didn't realize it so quickly though. After receiving rejections from agents, talking with editors, and getting feedback from critique partners and family/friends, this girl right here fell into some writer depression. Now every other aspect of my life was fine and dandy but I didn't even have the desire to look at my book. I just didn't want to face the inevitable...the dreaded revisions and edits and blah blah blah. That's right, she didn't want to do it. And when I say she, I mean me! At the time I didn't recognize it, but I was prolonging the completion of my novel. I was causing the growth of my writing career to become stagnant. It was me who was allowing a lack of confidence to weigh me down. And before I knew it...it'd been months before I took a peek at my manuscript. Bad, right? Yep, real bad.
Essentially what I'm attempting to explain to you is never be completely satisfied with your WIP (work in progress) because there is always room for improvement. Heck, even J.K. Rowling wishes she could rewrite the Harry Potter series! Blasphemy, I know! But, don't be so unsatisfied that you want to give up and quit the whole writing thing. Be a bit of an enemy and a loyal fan, yah get it? Hope so. And this isn't just for writing your novel, this can be with anything in your life. Stop allowing the monkey on your back (stress, life issues, setbacks, unfulfillment, etc.) to weigh you down. And good Lord, definitely don't let that monkey turn into a gorilla....or even worse KING KONG! Life isn't as serious as your mind wants your heart to believe.
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