It's something all writers face—published or unpublished—self-doubt.
Romance author, Christie Craig tells how she deals with it and offers Five tips for overcoming and preventing self doubts.
There’s a monster hiding under my desk. He lurks there, waiting for the right moment
to attack. He’s an ugly little bastard, too.
I have a lot of names for him, but for the sake of not overusing
profanity in this blog, I’ll call him by his real name, Self-Doubt.
Most of you might think that after two decades in the
business, I’d have managed to kill the gremlin. But you’d be wrong. That
sneaky little devil won’t die. He keeps
popping back up.
I think self doubt is something most writers face throughout
their careers. And by careers, I don’t
mean from the point that you become a published author, I mean, from the point
you start writing. I think the
inability to fight the gremlin is one of the biggest things that prevent a
writer from becoming published. And it’s
probably one of the reasons published writers stop writing. That’s right, this monster doesn’t care what
you’ve accomplished. All he wants is a big
bite out of your confidence.
He’ll tell you that whatever you’ve got on that computer
screen is crap. That you just need to
delete it. He’ll convince you that no matter how good of an idea you may
have, it’s probably already been done.
He’ll whisper in your ear that you’re wasting your time,
that cleaning out your grout in your kitchen tile with a toothbrush is much
more important. Sometimes he possesses
your family and friends and they’ll say things like, “How long are you going to
put yourself though all this pain before you find something else to do with your
time?” He’ll stare you right in the
eyes and tell you that your dreams are silly and you’ll never reach them. He’ll make you believe that the one negative
review out of twenty good ones is the one you should listen to. If you let him, he not only can slow you
down, he’ll rob you of the joy and passion you feel for writing.
Now, that gremlin is always close by, nipping at your toes,
giving you moments of doubt. I think
that’s somewhat normal. But let that
creature scramble up your leg, hang out in your lap, or even worse, let him
climb up on your shoulder, where you can listen to him all day long, and you’ll
soon be playing Russian Roulette with your passion for writing. Because writing with a self-doubt gremlin
sitting on your shoulder is about as easy as brushing your teeth with a brownie
in your mouth.
So how do we slay the gremlin or at least keep him at
bay? Below are five tips for overcoming and preventing self-doubt from
chewing on your sanity.
- 1) Be Aware or Peer Pressure.
We preach this to our kids but so
often we forget that the bad habits of the people we hang out with are as
contagious as a stomach virus. If you’re
hanging out with negative people, people who have lost their ability to chase
their dreams, you’re at risk of becoming just like them. Find positive people who validate your
dreams and work ethics to share your life and support your journey.
- 2) Ward off the message that you don’t know what you’re doing by continually growing at a writer. Read how-to books, take classes, attend those writer meetings and listen to what other writers offer as advice.
- 3) Mentor someone else. Nothing can inspire you more than helping and encouraging another person. Telling others that they have to believe in themselves is a sure fire way or rekindling your own self-confidence. It also creates karma.
- 4) Be leery of ruts. If you’re not feeling the passion for your writing, try spicing things up by doing something different. Try writing something in a new genre, or try writing something in a different point of view. Nothing can get you out of a rut quicker than feeling challenged.
- 5) Accept that sometimes you are going to fail. That you’re going to make mistakes. That you’re going to get rejections—that it might take you years to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Understand that you aren’t the first person to get fifty rejections, or a hundred, or even a thousand. The truth is, the number of rejections you receive doesn't matter. You are not defeated until you let yourself be defeated.
Writing isn’t for wimps.
Chances are, you’ll face those gremlins, not once but many times, so
just be armed with good friends, knowledge, Karma, a sense of adventure, and
perseverance. And never, ever lose your
sense of humor. And now that I’ve
shared with you my tips for slaying gremlins, I’d like to hear some of
yours.
- How do you tackle self doubt?
DON'T MESS WITH TEXASAvailable now on bookshelves and e-book
Nikki Hunt thought her night couldn't get worse when her no-good, cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the bill. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three-thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she's a murder suspect.
Former cop turned PI, Dallas O'Connor knows what it's like to be unjustly accused. But one look at the sexy-though skittish-suspect tells him she couldn't hurt anyone. The lead detective, Dallas's own brother, has the wrong woman and Dallas hopes a little late-night "undercover" work will help him prove it . . . First Chapter Excerpt (blog excerpt page)
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Photojournalist, Author and Speaker
