Self-Doubt Debilitates Writers

 Writers face any number of hurdles on their writing journey. Some are harder to vault over than others. One of them creeps up and whispers in the ear of many a writer. It's self-doubt. A nasty little bug that requires some time and effort to overcome.

Self-doubt can be debilitating. It tends to grow, become heavier, and put a pall on your day. 

Why do writers become victimes of self-doubt? It's almost hard not to have this problem when we look around and see all the wonderful publications in the book world, in magazines, and ezines. It's easy to suddenly wonder why so many are published on a frequent basis and we are not. Or perhaps not as often as hoped for. 

Writers are not all alike. What worries one does not give another pause. Some of us are frequent worriers, and that invites self-doubt right in the door. The fix? Stop worrying! Oh, if it was only that easy. To merely say it and worry magically disappears. Instead, it is a slow process of reminding yourself about your good points in your writing life and looking back at what you've accomplished over the years. Our poster for today addresses this quite well. Keep in mind that it is not an instant cure but a slow process that we must work on continuously. 

Why do some people deal with self-doubt more than others? Look back into the growing-up years. If someone in the family, or a teacher, or a friend, belittled a person, self-doubt has a fine place to grow. If others criticize us for one thing or another, it's pretty easy to start doubting ourself. The ground work was laid, and we keep it going. Again, help yourself by dwelling on the helpful things in your writing life. 

Have a little talk with yourself. Think about your good qualities, your pluses in your writing journey. Remind yourself every day. Keep those positives alive and well. Doing this will crowd out the self-doubt. Have a personal pep talk meeting with yourself several times a week. It needs to be an ongoing process.

But what is that you're thinking? That you shouldn't brag about yourself. It's not nice to do that. If you're having coffee with four friends, it probably isn't the right place to do this. But, when it's only you, go right ahead. You're working on erasing self-doubt and pumping yourself up as you move down your writing path. 

Self-doubt is not a terminal disease. There are fixes, but it's up to you to address the problem. I cannot do it for you. Your friends cannot. Your family cannot. You are the one in charge.