Self-Indulgent Lunch Musing

I'm at a copywriting seminar for two days. I like it. Our teacher has a Boston accent that makes me happy; he says "idear" and talks about "iPohds" (I can't do it justice in the spelling) and seems to know what he's talking about. My fellow classmates are interesting people--I spoke to a girl today who is a bodybuilder (but not the gross kind, more about the toning), and then some of us did a group project built around a cootie-catcher.

And I'm being reminded, yet again, how hard it is to throw copy into a "good" box or a "bad" box. I can recognize good writing and bad writing, but I keep forgetting that there are ways to make improvements on just about anything--through redirection, new word choices, etc. Instructors are very good at saying things like "I like where this is going" or "I like your idea" and then carefully explaining ways to make it better. I'm very bad at that. My reactions: "That's awesome!" or "That sucks." (I would tone it down when giving critiques, of course.)

As a writer, I personally want to write only really good stuff . . . anything that is less than that makes me want to quit or just sigh and say "I'm not good at this." When really, I should change my attitude, see what works, and make everything else better.

I like to think that I'm not like this. I'm all about the "gray" when it comes to religion or politics or philosophy or even morals, but in the more insidious places, the places where I don't even notice, my black-and-white thinking just upsets me, and I don't even realize why. In so many ways, I want to be really good immediately.