Grocery day today. We had two phone calls, each giving us an updated delivery time (by “updated” I mean “later” of course).
Meanwhile, It is cold and wet and windy. The only good thing about the weather is that it isn’t as windy as yesterday and that there was only one clap of thunder. It was clearly trying out all sorts of things and decided that a thunderstorm was surplus to requirements.
I received a book through the post yesterday – Getting Published in UK Poetry Magazines by Robin Houghton. It cost £6 fo a 34 page pamphlet of information I already had, There were a couple of snippets I didn’t know, but much of he information is available online. The main thing I got was a lesson in checking how big something is before ordering it. It won’t break me, and if it encourages a fellow poet I suppose it’s worth the money.
One thing I did notice was mention of humblebragging. It was not only a new word, but a new concept. It seems similar to name-dropping.The author seems very much against it, but doesn’t really explain it that well. I had to look it up. I may have appeared to be guilty of this in the past but I assure you, I don’t mean to.
When I say I fear being uncovered as a fraud who got lucky I am telling the truth. It’s gradually sinking in that I am probably OK as a writer, as I’m getting regular acceptances and editors talk to me these days. Well, some of them do. However, I do still worry that one day it will all come to an end.
And, to end (with a masterful humblebrag) my target of 100 rejections has moved further away as I had two acceptances yesterday.I will now look suitably modest and sidle away as the smug alarm starts to sound…
I dare say your insecurity makes you a better poet. In fact, I would think that the ones who are confident are the most deluded.
There is something called the Dunning-Kruger effect – you seem to have spotted it and you didn’t need a research grant. 🙂
https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-the-dunning-kruger-effect-4160740
😊 Yes, I have read about the Dunning-Kruger effect. I see it on a regular basis in my classes. However, I do see a lot more anxiety with students failing to believe in themselves.
I think it’s easier to doubt yourself than it is to believe in yourself, particularly when there are so many people around who want to criticise rather than encourage.
Bringing people down is one of the uglier sides of human nature. It’s a sure sign that there is nothing wrong with the person being criticised. (Constructive feedback excepted – eg when a person has asked for a document to be proofread.)
You have just given me the idea for a post, which I will write as soon as I finish this.
I have noticed that when people criticise they often reveal more about themselves than they do about the person they criticise.
I look forward to reading the post… yes, I think you are right re criticism. I’ve heard similar of questions at least in as far as a question doesn’t lie, unlike the answer, which can.
Objectivity is a hard beast to master.
🙂 Still trying to write that post.
I noticed it hadn’t been published 😊
Soon…
😊
You can never knock success!
I look forward to a bit of boastfulbragging
Yes, time for a change of tack. 🙂
Congratulations on those acceptances! May your target of 100 rejections be further away! 🙂
🙂 Thank you.
Humble-bragging is a little tricksy. On the one hand, you want to sound confident. But on the other hand you don’t want to come across as boastful.
Yes, it’s a problem. I was happier when I didn’t know it existed. 🙂
Humblebragging is an art form. I apply it to cycling distances in an unsubtle way. “Oh I did an easy fifty today”…that sort of thing.
Is that like when I tell people I’ve had ten years of blissful marriage? It confuses the ones who know we were married in 1989. 🙂
🙂
🙂