6 Ways for Writers to Boost Self-confidence

 

It stands to reason that if you make a habit of doubting your ability as a writer, you're going to squeeze your creativity dry. 

What makes us doubt our writing capabilities? I once interviewed several over age 50 writers about why they waited so long. A few of the writers told me that a teacher in high school or college had criticized something they had written, and the desire to write shut down for many years. Thankfully, they all did begin writing during middle-age, became published in small publications or large, and continued writing as they grew older. Wouldn't it have been better if those teachers had first pointed out what they liked about the person's essay or story, then showed them how it might be better? 

I'm an example in another field--art. In college, I had to take a class called Art for the Exceptional Child. I was a Special Education major, and this was a required class. One day, we were given a lump of clay and directions on creating something artistic. I struggled but finished. The instructor looked at my effort and, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, said, "That would be fine if a blind child had done it." Needless to say, I have never forgotten her exact words, and I have a mental block concerning all art to this day. 

The same thing happened to me when I was around 9 years old and asked my grandmother to teach me to crochet. I admired the lovely things she made with her crochet needles. As I stood next to her, the needles never stopped as she said, "No, you're much too clumsy." I never learned to knit or crochet anything! Wouldn't it have been better for her to tell me she would teach me when I was a little older? I wouldn't have felt like an idiot and had something to look forward to. 

So, yes, others can be responsible for our self-doubt. We can also be the one to feed our lack of confidence in our writing ability. I excelled in English classes all through school, so I felt confident that, while I couldn't be an artist, or do special handiwork like my grandmother, I could write. Writing was the art I most wanted to pursue, and I knew I could be successful mostly because I believed it and continued to have a positive attitude. I also realized that it wasn't going to happen overnight, that I had to work at being a writer.

The rejections we have all received don't do a lot to boost our self-confidence. In fact, we need to fight to keep a positive outlook and to find a lesson in the rejections that will help us be better writers. Once we get a few acceptances, a lot of our self-doubt disappears, and we want to keep writing. 

To develop more self-confidence as a writer you should:

1. forget about teachers and other adults who criticized your writing long ago. They are one person.
2. concentrate on the positives in your writing journey, not the bumps in the road.
3. continue learning about the craft of writing through reading, conferences, and visiting with other writers,
4. practice writing on a regular basis.
5. do writing exercises.
6. count all the good things that have happened to you as a writer.