So I’m thinking maybe I should stop writing for good. I clearly have no talent anyway, and no promise of ever being published or recognized. I don’t enjoy it anymore because I’m now a perfectionist about it and can’t write a single damn thing without judging it as awful. I don’t give myself a chance to even finish a poem before I will convince myself it’s bad and throw it away. Besides the fact that there’s no point anymore. I mean, why carve 2-3 hrs. out of each day to slave over a poem you know is mediocre, fussing over every last little detail to make sure it’s ‘just right’…for what? So you can submit it to some website where maybe five people will read it, if you’re lucky? There are so many other, more meaningful things I could be doing with my time. The only problem is that being a writer is the one thing I really want to do with my life. Or it was. Now I don’t know what I want to do anymore.

[Bumblebuzz12]

I'm a writer myself and I'm pretty sure as writers we all have those days. Out of every story I've ever written I've never finished one. I told a good friend about this and she told me that just because I don't like it doesn't mean someone else won't like it either. I realized she was right. I look back at stories I've written a long time ago and they inspire me to start new ones and they give me great ideas to make it better.
You can inspire yourself and others just by not giving up. Anybody can write a story and they are all fantastic, at least to somebody. Nobody is promised to be recognized or published, it's just one of those things.
I can totally relate too this post. It's freaky how much I can relate to this. I'm a total perfectionist to and that makes writing very very difficult. I randomly start writing things down they'll be out of order and make no sense. It drives me crazy. I leave it on the table and walk away distract myself. A couple hours later go back and read what you wrote. Get that perfect idea of what your story will be like out of your head. You'll be surprised by how many things pop out at you.
Good luck

[Alone & confused]

Some of my favorite movies, stories, quotes are things that not many people have seen, read or heard.
What I'm getting at is, that even if You may not feel it's your best, it may still have a lasting impression on someones life. And maybe, in knowing that, you my find your work to be fulfilling & "perfect" after all. There was a singer years ago going through a divorce. The judge awarded his wife all the money from his next album. He wrote a song (out of spite ) that he was sure wouldn't sell because it was so bad. And it went STRAIGHT to #1 on the charts! Not only that, but they sold tons of t-shirts promoting the song. So I hope you won't give up on your dreams! You never know what may happen. Best of luck to you!

Originally Posted by ShyPoetGirl

So I’m thinking maybe I should stop writing for good. I clearly have no talent anyway, and no promise of ever being published or recognized. I don’t enjoy it anymore because I’m now a perfectionist about it and can’t write a single damn thing without judging it as awful. I don’t give myself a chance to even finish a poem before I will convince myself it’s bad and throw it away. Besides the fact that there’s no point anymore. I mean, why carve 2-3 hrs. out of each day to slave over a poem you know is mediocre, fussing over every last little detail to make sure it’s ‘just right’…for what? So you can submit it to some website where maybe five people will read it, if you’re lucky? There are so many other, more meaningful things I could be doing with my time. The only problem is that being a writer is the one thing I really want to do with my life. Or it was. Now I don’t know what I want to do anymore.

You can keep working on being a writer, yet keep other options open, but don't lose of your goal. You're very young, and maybe you'll get your work published when you're 25 or 30? There is so much time left. It takes a while to take off. Your work doesn't have to be liked by everybody, you could carve out a niche for yourself, or develop a cult following, who knows? Only appreciated by people who really understand you.

You could try another website, maybe some place where people love to read and share their stories with each other.

I can relate to you, I'm a perfectionist too, just not about writing.

[Fuzzybear]