When people ask me about writing, I think one of the questions I get the most is – how do you keep writing when self-doubt strikes? This happened the other day and I joked that most times I sit at the laptop I have a crisis of confidence but then I thought more seriously about the question. 

Just how do you keep on writing when faced with rejections, peer criticism, one star reader reviews and people asking why you’re not as successful as JK Rowling yet? 

Here are my top tips:

1. Know why you do it: 

It’s easier to keep going back to the laptop if you remind yourself why you’re there to begin with. Do you love creating characters? Do you get lost in your stories? Are you desperate to have a book in a bookshop? Why are you writing in the first place basically? You could even make sure you remember by putting it on a post-it so you can look at it when you’re struggling. 

2. Remember it will pass:

Don’t panic if you have a day when everything you write just seems rubbish or you’ve hit that horrid middle part and you have no idea how you’ll get to the end of your book. Take a break and breathe, recognise you’re stumbling and don’t stress about it. Read a book or do something you enjoy then go back to your story another time when you are ready to get over that hurdle.

3. You are not alone:

Every writer has a moment of self-doubt. Yes, even JK Rowling. I promise you. We have all looked at our words and worried they were all terrible. All writers have wondered if we’d ever get published. Fear is in our veins because this is our passion. If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t worry. Writing is hard and we’ve all struggled. So don’t feel alone – we’ve all been there, and we all will be there again.

4. Inspire yourself:

Try to turn the crisis around by giving yourself a pep talk. Out loud if necessary but you can also use anything positive to counter that pesky doubting voice in your head. If you’re published you could read a good review of your book or reach out to a writer friend to cheer you on. Dig out some good feedback from an agent or look back at a positive comment from your editor. Or check in with your mum and get her to remind you how amazing you are! Look back at your previous stories – you’ve written a book and you can do it again. Anything to lift you up and get you back on track.

5. Keep writing:

There is so much in the life of a writer that is out of our hands. You can’t know if you’ll get an agent or if your book will be published or how many copies you will sell. That can cause a lot of stress and worry but we need to remember that a lot of it we can do absolutely nothing about. All we can do is write. Write that story you want to tell. Don’t start second guessing in the middle whether it will be a bestseller or not, just keep going, get to the end and pass it on to the publishing Gods. You’ve done all you can do. Words are our superpower. So put that cape on and get your butt back in that chair because you can do it! 

  
How do you get over a crisis of confidence? Share your tips on the comments!

Victoria

xoxo 

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Scrolling through Twitter yesterday I saw a lot of tweets talking about writing every day in response to another article about the subject. I’ve read so many articles about how you have to write every day. They often say things like “if you want to be a REAL writer, you must write everyday” and make you full of self doubt if you don’t write the same way they do.

I really hope most of the articles deliberately exaggerate for the sake of a good headline / quote / tweet or to get us all taking because the idea that if you don’t conform to certain rules you can’t possibly dare call yourself a writer is just funny to me. There is no right way to write. There is no right way to be a writer. Otherwise we’d all be bestselling literary superstars living in mansions and sipping champagne. 

Being a writer isn’t easy. You can write as a hobby or as your job or both and some days you will likely struggle but you’ll also have better days and be filled with passion and joy. Most of us write because we love it. We might not have the time or space to write every day. We might not want to do this. Most people have days off from work. Most people see this as a good thing. Even if you love what you do we all need time away from it. We need to recharge, relax and breathe and experience other things. These other things might even end up inspiring our writing. 

  
The problem with writing tips is they become rules and you end worrying that if you do something different to them then you will fail. I don’t think there are any rules to writing. Everyone approaches writing differently as they approach their job, their relationships, and their life. Most professions will have hundreds of people doing them and all of them doing it slightly differently. We all have quirks and flourishes and life would be pretty boring otherwise. 

I suppose because writing can be so be tough especially on the road to being published, we’d all love to discover a shortcut, a sneaky guide to how to get there faster or with less pain, and that’s why writers will always be asked for their tips on how to write. But that’s all they are. Tips. Advice. An idea you can try if you like. Something that works for that particular person. But it should never be seen as a rule. 

I don’t believe that anyone has discovered a perfect way to write or a perfect way to be a writer. Writing is a creative pastime and we all need to create the way that works best for us. Writing is messy and infuriating and fun and challenging and freeing and some days you might love it or hate it, you might sit at your laptop or want to run and hide from it. But you always come back to it. Because you have to write. 

Carry on doing it your way. 

You’re a writer. 

And so am I. 

How do you feel when you read writing tips? Do you think you have to write every day to be a writer? 

Victoria

xoxo