Freelance Writing Tip #33: The Danger of Over-Inflating Ego

One of the things that is extremely challenging to do is to assess just “how good” your writing abilities are. It can be next to impossible, especially since gaging our efforts is a double-edged sword. On the one side, we want to feel good about what we do, because it helps keeps us motivated to write. On the other, we don’t want to over-analyze our writing because we’ll end up putting down our pens and stop writing altogether.

It’s necessary to find a balance between the two extremes for several reasons, but the biggest one is this: If your ego is over-inflated, you can really damage your career. Risks include:

  • Alienating fans
  • Disputes with editors
  • Late or non-existent payments
  • Exclusions from future contracts or work
  • Bad customer experiences
  • These are just a few of the reasons why you have to manage not only your writing, but the resiliency of your personality and your ego. Remember that you are selling yourself as an independent contractor, and any time you fall into one of the common traps that many authors seem to do–you are limiting the amount of income you could potentially make.

    About Monica

    Monica Valentinelli is an author and game designer who lurks in the dark. She has worked on both original stories as well as tie-in fiction for games like Vampire: the Masquerade. Her short stories have appeared in Apexology: Science Fiction & Fantasy and the upcoming New Hero anthology from Stone Skin Press.

    By day, Monica is the Marketing Director for Steve Jackson Games and John Kovalic’s business manager. By night? The author wanders into the wilds of her computer to unearth fantastic stories and compelling characters.

    Contact Monica.
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