Overcoming self-doubt as a writer

Self-doubt as a writer – is a thing. That’s the message. In other words, there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don’t let it dictate your mood. And your progress.

There are many reasons for self-doubt as a writer – but the most important is probably that writing is a very lonely job. That alone isn’t necessarily anything bad. Most writers like their job (or hobby) exactly that way. But something most, if not all writers have in common is that you can’t show your work to someone else – at least not regularly. Even if you want, you need to find someone who got enough time to read through your latest draft. 

Compare this to a photographer or a painter. For them, it doesn’t take much to get feedback. You can do it at a glance – no pun intended. So part of where self-doubt is coming from as a writer is a lack of feedback. Sure, you could send your work to someone else, but more often than not, you would send unfinished drafts, that haven’t seen a final editing or polish. And this would probably result in even more self-doubts. 

The first thing to overcome self-doubt as a writer is to start with a reality check. Why don’t you trust your work? This will quickly lead to the most important question: Are my doubts real or are they actually a typical writers block hiding as self-doubt.

Another possible alter ego of self-doubt could be some form of burnout – because let’s face it: Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. And finishing a novel can be daunting given how many blank pages you are still facing. 

But there are solutions.

If you are facing a writing block, there are various solutions you could try. From a walk in the park, to completely abandoning your current WIP for a few weeks. You could then just quit writing entirely for that time, or start a completely new project. While looking counterintuitive in the first place, it can really spark – or reignite – your creativity. Plus: You’ll gain some distance to your other project, which may help freeing your mind from the blocking factors. 

The other case – the daunting feeling of not being able to finish the novel – can be tackled using different motivational strategies. 

Among those, obviously, is the famous pomodoro technique. A must for many writers. Inching closer to your goal in quick 25 minute writing sprints (yes, above we said writing would be a marathon, not a sprint) is both fun and engaging. 

You could also keep track of your writing using writers habit tracking. Attention: Here, part of the equation is how you frame it to your self, though. Because this can be both motivating and intimidating.

If you manage to frame it as motivating, writing habit tracking can give you the necessary nudge to get something to the paper every single day. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Even if you don’t like what you wrote on a day you felt much pressure you a) learned something about your craft and b) did practice. Both will help you get a better writer. 

Finally, if your self-doubt are emerging from being uncertain about the quality of your writing, then stop rereading your past chapter immediately. Sure, it’s often recommended to read the last pages you wrote at the beginning of each writing session. It helps getting back on track. But if it leads to self doubt – stop it. Instead, finish your first draft without looking back.

Once done, you can then start editing with the whole story in place. This will make it much easier to oversee the whole process. Plus, you will most likely notice that you made progress. That your writing has evolved throughout your novel. You’ll probably even realize that some of your earlier chapters aren’t as bad as you thought. 

That’s it for today. Let us know if you got other strategies, that could be useful for writers.