More on fear and crits

In this post I talked about fear and Magdelena said this:

I completely relate to your comments regarding creativity. I have brief spells where words flow but they are interspersed with a black hole of self doubt and fear. It doesn't help when people make negative comments, that's food for the damned inner critic.

I have a tendency to seek out crits for my work before it's really ready for feedback. Partially because I need someone to tell me I'm doing OK. I've resolved not to do this anymore because I'm not yet resilient enough. Crits tend to throw me into a spin and take me away from what I want to do. I'm not saying they are not useful, but I think I have to be in a space where I can hear them and not take them personally. Sometimes I can't do that. Although curiously I have no trouble with crits from ERWA. But like lots of other romance writers I enter RWA contests and have had mixed success. I'm holding off from them for a while until I've worked out exactly what I want to write. That continues to be a problem for me, I just don't think I have a romance voice. I get pulled more and more to a dark, crime/thriller style of writing.

On that note, one of my favourite places at the moment is Flashing in the Gutter, where you can read some great flash, fairly noir fiction. And Sarah Weinman reports here that Julia Kristeva has published a detective novel. Since I agonised over her writing in my university days, I'm curious as to whether she can pull it off. Possible another to add to my out of control TBR pile.