I'm the queen of bad selfies. Even when I do my makeup and apply a number of filters to my picture, I still manage to look weird. I would enjoy being a beautiful selfie master. Heck, I'd even accept one beautiful pic of me at this point.
But is this the kind of mentality you want to apply to your writing?
Of course, you may be saying, What's better than people thinking my writing is beautiful?
Answer: when it takes the reader out of the story.
You've been there, I'm sure. You're reading a novel, completely invested in the characters and plot, and then suddenly you stumble upon a description so beautiful that you have to stop and reread it. You write it down, take its picture, or find it scrawled on Pinterest.
You may think, wow that passage was great, or that metaphor was superb. But really, what just happened?
Answer: you were pulled out of the story.
Even if it's just for a second, losing the reader is losing the reader. Whether they're confused or too stunned by your writing, it's a bad scenario.
So, make sure you're writing for the characters and plot of the story and kill those darling passages you think too beautiful to leave out. Cut them right out of the page and save them in a separate word document. Who knows, maybe you'll need a beautiful Tweet or social media update that you can use that beautiful passage for. But, as strange as it sounds, your fiction isn't the place to showcase just how wonderfully you can write. Fiction is about the story, the emotions, and the actions of the characters. You are simply the catalyst they're using to come to life.
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