Two-Fifty Tuesday: Unlikely Compliments

Let Them Spur You On!

It’s hard to keep the faith in the face of rejection. In the face of time crunches. In the face of a million and one other writing challenges (I’m supposed to know what happens in my own story??)

A trick I’ve learned: think about the best compliment you’ve been given on your writing. Maybe it came from a family member, a friend, a book coach, an agent, an editor. 

Mine came from one of my university professors. 

When she accused me of plagiarism.

I was working on my Master’s degree, taking a course in Cultural Studies. I was presenting on the cultural influence of cyberpunk novels, a subgenre of science fiction. When I sat down, my professor glared at me. My heart beat faster. What had I done wrong? 

“I’m concerned you chose not to attribute your sources,” she said. 

I was utterly confused. I had done that. “I don’t… understand,” I stuttered.

“The descriptive passage you read? Whose novel did you take that from?”

 “Uh,” I said hesitantly. “I wrote that.”

She blinked in surprise. “Really?”

I nodded, still scared I was in trouble. 

“Wow,” she said. “That’s publishable quality.”

A professor, who was not involved in my creative writing endeavors, mistook my writing for something already published. 

Never would I have thought that being accused of cheating would have been such a high compliment. 

But it’s one that still spurs me on. 

What’s one writing compliment that can help you keep going?