I am a human being. And like most human beings I like receiving compliments. Or at least I like receiving some compliments, to me they have to be believable compliments. For example, there’s no point telling me that I’m an amazing runner because I know I’m shit and it’ll just make me feel uncomfortable instead.
My writing is my biggest passion, and it’s the thing that I both love and hate receiving compliments about. On the one hand, I enjoy it when people tell me that my writings good, or that they think it’s well written. On the other hand, it makes me feel really uncomfortable, because I think it’s okay but it’s rarely great, at least not the way other people want to tell me it is. I’m a perfectionist and a self-critic, so I always think it could be so much better.
For me, my writing isn’t really about getting praise for it. Whilst of course I’d love for my work to be recognised and to make money from it, it’s not really my main goal of writing. I write because I enjoy it, and I write about the things I care about, the things I’m passionate about, and the things that I feel. I want to share my experiences with people, I want to connect, I want to make them feel.
The greatest compliment I can receive is when someone tells me that my writing made them feel something, like really feel something, or that they were able to relate to what I’ve written. That’s the type of compliment that makes me happiest and encourages me to write more. It’s real, it’s raw, it’s honest. It feels like I have connected with someone through my writing, and that’s so precious to me.
A Place of Mine 