Are you confident in your writing abilities as a writer?
Do you think you have what it takes to write a best seller one day? How do you build confidence in your writing?
I keep finding myself in a place where I feel like my manuscripts aren't any good and like I've somehow gotten myself in over my head by just attempting to write. I was recently offered a contract by a small indie publisher, but instead of feeling proud of myself, I'm waiting for them to contact me and change their mind about my book deal, which is ridiculous.
How can I work to feel more confident about my writing?
In undergrad, my professors and classmates really liked my writing, but I never have felt confident that it is perfect. Is that just an unchangeable aspect of writing - the feeling that the writing is never as you envisioned it in your head? I read a lot to continually develop my vocabulary and alter my writing style, and I will toil over one sentence at a time, but when I’m done and piece it all together, I still feel amateur. Is there ever going to be a confidence boost that really resonates with me? I know y’all don’t have all the answers hahah I just wanna feel like there’s gonna be a moment where I’m like “yeah, this is it right here” I started writing something a few weeks ago. Something approximating a a series of short novels.
I would really like to write seriously. I have started writing things, but then I stop and start, stop and start, and my writing is inconsistent. I also suffer from dyslexia, so education wasn't easy for me. English was my stronger subject, along with art, design, and music. Although, I definitely wouldn't say I am great at English, sometimes my grammar and punctuation is lacking. I have tried hard to improve myself and my abilities.
I am inclined to think I am an above average writer who can pen down at least short novels and stories. I get many ideas but whenever I read some well-written post online e.g. an article in The New Yorker or some book review portal, I feel distraught about not ever reaching that level of writing and thus, never start. Need some advice to start writing and what should be done if I feel my write-ups are very mediocre?
I never went to university or higher education, but my interest in story telling has always been there since a kid. I loved imagining scenarios and worlds. Fantasy has always been my favourite genre, along with Sci-Fi. I have been writing a story, but I do get frustrated that It doesn't come to me easier than I would like. Does anyone else feel frustrated by their abilities? Have you struggled with not believing in yourself when it comes to writing? I'd be intrigued to know how you got over it.
I just finished writing a chapter today and I felt drained afterward.
Hello, I just accepted into my university newspaper but the thing is, I have no confidence in writing articles. This is my first time joining a publication and so, I have no experience. I feel that I’m a bit of a disadvantage as other candidates have got a bit of experience with them.
How do I build confidence in my writing?
I feel that my writing is completely horrible and it feels hard for me to even want to start to write because I get some cringe at how bad it is.
I have written short articles here and there but this is a publication, which is a big deal for me. I’m also still a trainee which means I can get kicked out anytime if my articles are not deemed worthy. I guess the pressure is making me question my confidence so, is there any way I can overcome this? I’m scared it might hinder my ability to write.
I shared it with a few readers that I have accumulated, and they all gave me really positive feedback/reviews (strangers, not friends and family).
When I write, I have a hell of a lot of fun. I'll sit, write, or just do it in Microsoft Word. I even got to 2100 words in one sitting, about, like, 10 or 15 pages? I read through it again and I thought it was awful, and deleted the whole thing. What's the secret to being confident when it comes to writing? I feel like I have tons of good ideas, but when they get on paper, they just look disgusting to me.
I slept a bit because of how drained I felt. But when I woke up, despite feeling physically better, I have this overwhelming loss of confidence in my story and my writing for some reason that I can’t seem to shake.
I’m very much a ‘wannabe’ writer. Over the years, with varying degrees of intensity, I’ve written about all aspects of things - life, discovery, relationships, fantasy - and done so avidly. Always harbouring a silly dream of one day being able to share what I do with others and to have others genuinely appreciate what I write.
I've been a dreamer for awhile but I'd like to become more of a doer. The problem is that I lack confidence in myself as a writer. I believe that my ideas have potential, and that as I critic I can separate the wheat from the chaff, but I don't always belief that I can bring them to fruition, or that they won't peter out, or that I was never much of a writer anyway. It's really confusing because I know I care about story: I'm a rabid consumer of narratively rich stories, my inner critic constantly tells me how it could have been done better and I have a creative itch to build massive worlds with characters and stories that bind them. And yet I still tell myself that I'm a not writer. But to be honest I just don't know. I was hoping by starting to write some scripts I would begin to understand if I was cut out for this thing, or more accurately, if I enjoyed doing it. My experiences have led me to doubt that it's neither, but I know I haven't really made things easy for myself. I've never written much more than an essay, or a 20 page story - if it was that long. I want to believe that I can do this but the experience of unraveling these grand narratives in my head has been a rather daunting experience.
How do you overcome a lack of confidence in your writing?
I'm always putting my writing down and I feel that it's never good enough, which prevents me from writing even when I have an idea or excitement for it. I know that the best way to become a better writer is simply through practice, but how can I overcome my lack of confidence so it doesn't feel like I'm digging through hard dirt with my fingernails when I do write?
Is there way I can start in a positive, and stress free way?
Creative writing MFAs? Local writing workshop? Reading as much as you can? Practice, practice, practice? What makes you a good writer?
Personally i'm quite anxious about my writing skills, and I don't know how I could find out if my writing is good / enjoyable. Every time I start working on a story or such, I don't know if it's any good, and for a long time i've been wondering if there's a good way to define if your writing is bad or good.
I'm someone who lack confidence in anything I do, and I rely heavily on outside validation. A part of my mind insists that if even ONE PERSON doesn't like my work, or my style, then I must be trash. Obviously that's rubbish, there's not one thing in the entire universe that everyone likes. Literally not one thing.
In what ways do you feel insecure about writing?
Discussion
To be honest, I just need to know I'm not alone! Hope this turns into a thread so anxious writers like me can gain some confidence. Thanks! :)
By having this mindset, I'm setting myself up for failure and a lot of depression. It's to a point where I question the validity of people's praise. Even if I'm super proud of something, I begin to question if I'm getting too big for my britches with my love for it, and whether I'm being over confident in my skills.
So, I haven't really been writing fanfiction for very long, a little bit less than a year. And I know that I won't just instantly become amazing at writing without trying- but when I reread my WIP right now (one that is my most popular story despite only being around 5 chapters), I can't help but notice how awkward everything reads. My dialogue is pretty good, but everything else just seems... bad. I really just don't want to be known as this person in my fandom that made this story with this really unique idea, but is below average in quality. I really don't want that reputation, but... I can't just abandon my stories. The whole point of me writing fanfiction was so then I would stop abandoning what I'm writing. And how am I supposed to improve if I'm not writing? I seriously feel like a writer's block is coming, and I already take way too much time to put chapters up anyways- I don't want to double that. I honestly don't know what to do. Maybe once I finish the story I could do a major edit or something? I just need some confidence back, maybe some criticism so I know what I'm doing wrong.
So how do you cope? Is this something that happens to you frequently, or only once in a while? Maybe never?
Anyone having similar problems? What were / are your ways of finding out if your writing is good?
I feel like I’ve been following most of the advice there is about creative writing, with the exception of writing something everyday, but I’m still not happy with my work (the lit mag rejections agree). But even publishing aside, it’s rare that I look at something I wrote and feel like I’ve done as well as I could, even after editing.
So I began writing a year ago, for the very first time-- and I did it mostly to get the story off my head and into a paper.
I continued my chapters for a while because it helped me pass my time. But now that I have completed a book [ 71 chapters & 2300 words each ] with full fledged characters, plot, enough drama and suspense, I am considering to get it published. For real.
My story is fantasy-fic.There is going to be a certain degree of influence I may have, because of the previous books I've read from exemplary authors. But I have tried my best to keep it an original.
Which brings me to the problem of lacking confidence and tremendous self-doubt.
I've just recently realized that my writing is complete crap.
Especially during exam time, it's like reading a kid from elemntary trying to express his feelings unto paper.
So, one of the things that bothers me a lot when it comes to writing is that I really lack confidence in my own skills and I can get really upset if my stories don't get feedback (mainly its a lack of comments/reviews that bothers me, but also kudos, favourites, follows, etc) because I feel like they must be terrible in some way. But then I feel guilty for whining because I know other writers get even less engagement than I do. I also end up comparing myself to other authors in terms of output and dedicated readership and things like that.
Monday threads and so on because I just look at my work and I don't feel proud of any of it or that it's worth sharing. I ended up not posting something like the last ten days of the November prompts despite completeing them all because I just got it into my head that they were terrible and nobody cared. I mean, part of the reason I post fanfic is to take part in fandom so I'm always going to be looking for responses to an extent, but it's annoying that it bothers me so much when engagement isn't too great.
So... does anyone have any tips for how to overcome this?
I'm in grade 11 right now, meaning that I have a few months before my marks actually impact me. How should I utilize this few months and drastically improve my writing?
I've tried reading mulitple books (LOTR, GoT, etc) just so I can improve writing, but I lost interest in all of them (Loved the genre/show though). I'm thinking of going to a subreddit for proofreading and try to see what people write and see what I can improve on their writing.
I've read many reviews of fans loving their fav books so much to the point, that they create unofficial head-cannons for their characters. And I consider that, a huge success for the authors.
I've also seen fandom wars where people go on lengths to prove that their choice of book is better than the other. Like the constant Harry Potter vs Percy Jackson quarrel.
While I would love for the world to know my story, I fear that it is of no competition to the ones I mentioned above.I feel so, because both the authors seem highly skilled and professional, not to mention the years of experience they have over me.
I haven't approached anyone to read my drafts because my friends aren't inclined in the field--and as for my family, I rather keep them out of it.
I'm a student starting college, so getting an editor/ agent is beyond the strings of my pocket
I haven't been to any sort of literature/ writing classes, but what I've written so far, seems good enough for an amateur.
Hence I would really love few words of encouragement and advice from you all.
What made you a better writer? Are there real ways of improving or is it just building confidence and resilience? Help.
Is there a training wheels for writers?
How good do you think your writing actually is?
Do you think you're an amazing writer? Why? What was the turning point?
Since writing in subjective and people like different styles etc I think it's really easy to be biased towards your own writing. I'm a junior content writer and I've had some experience editing other pieces. No one has ever told me "this is great writing" but I've had decent academic results and this new job where I'm writing 5/6 articles a week.
I love my writing style and when I read my finished articles I'm pretty impressed with myself. I know I make grammatical mistakes occasionally and I could do with a wider vocabulary but I think that for my experience level my writing is very easy and enjoyable to read. I just don't know how biased I really am and I'm wondering if this is something that every writer experiences? How confident are you with your own writing and is it only outsider opions and feedback that have made you believe your writing is actually 'good'?
Did you use them?
Like many fellow writers, perhaps seeking to gain more confidence in what I produce, fearing I’ll make a silly mistake, I’ve invested significant amounts of time and resources learning how to improve my writing skills. Ive bought and read (sometimes several times) many of the classic texts often suggested for aspiring writers.
And I know my writing today is better than it was a year back, and much, much better than two years ago. But still I hesitate to share my work. When I look back at what I’ve written, even the stuff I poured my heart into, I’m often left feeling ashamed by it. It’s lack of craft or the absence of creativity, the formulaic feel to it. I can’t seem to see past the presentation of the words into the meaning. I doubt others would be so distracted, but nevertheless I can’t get past it.
I don’t know if I’ll ever wrestle free of this… If I’ll ever gain the confidence to be able to share my work, regardless. And while I appreciate the meditative aspects of the creative process, if I’m never to share what’s the point..?
I feel really worried that it’s kind of trash, and I don’t know what to do about it.
Is this a common thing? Is it just something particular to me that I’ll have to do deal with.
Any advice and anecdote would be helpful. Thanks.
How do you, personally, maintain confidence in your own writing? Do you have any tips that you are willing to throw my way? Any and all advice is appreciated.
I keep finding myself in a place where I feel like my manuscripts aren't any good and like I've somehow gotten myself in over my head by just attempting to write. I was recently offered a contract by a small indie publisher, but instead of feeling proud of myself, I'm waiting for them to contact me and change their mind about my book deal, which is ridiculous.
How can I work to feel more confident about my writing?
In undergrad, my professors and classmates really liked my writing, but I never have felt confident that it is perfect. Is that just an unchangeable aspect of writing - the feeling that the writing is never as you envisioned it in your head? I read a lot to continually develop my vocabulary and alter my writing style, and I will toil over one sentence at a time, but when I’m done and piece it all together, I still feel amateur. Is there ever going to be a confidence boost that really resonates with me? I know y’all don’t have all the answers hahah I just wanna feel like there’s gonna be a moment where I’m like “yeah, this is it right here” I started writing something a few weeks ago. Something approximating a a series of short novels.
I would really like to write seriously. I have started writing things, but then I stop and start, stop and start, and my writing is inconsistent. I also suffer from dyslexia, so education wasn't easy for me. English was my stronger subject, along with art, design, and music. Although, I definitely wouldn't say I am great at English, sometimes my grammar and punctuation is lacking. I have tried hard to improve myself and my abilities.
I am inclined to think I am an above average writer who can pen down at least short novels and stories. I get many ideas but whenever I read some well-written post online e.g. an article in The New Yorker or some book review portal, I feel distraught about not ever reaching that level of writing and thus, never start. Need some advice to start writing and what should be done if I feel my write-ups are very mediocre?
I never went to university or higher education, but my interest in story telling has always been there since a kid. I loved imagining scenarios and worlds. Fantasy has always been my favourite genre, along with Sci-Fi. I have been writing a story, but I do get frustrated that It doesn't come to me easier than I would like. Does anyone else feel frustrated by their abilities? Have you struggled with not believing in yourself when it comes to writing? I'd be intrigued to know how you got over it.
I just finished writing a chapter today and I felt drained afterward.
Hello, I just accepted into my university newspaper but the thing is, I have no confidence in writing articles. This is my first time joining a publication and so, I have no experience. I feel that I’m a bit of a disadvantage as other candidates have got a bit of experience with them.
How do I build confidence in my writing?
I feel that my writing is completely horrible and it feels hard for me to even want to start to write because I get some cringe at how bad it is.
I have written short articles here and there but this is a publication, which is a big deal for me. I’m also still a trainee which means I can get kicked out anytime if my articles are not deemed worthy. I guess the pressure is making me question my confidence so, is there any way I can overcome this? I’m scared it might hinder my ability to write.
I shared it with a few readers that I have accumulated, and they all gave me really positive feedback/reviews (strangers, not friends and family).
When I write, I have a hell of a lot of fun. I'll sit, write, or just do it in Microsoft Word. I even got to 2100 words in one sitting, about, like, 10 or 15 pages? I read through it again and I thought it was awful, and deleted the whole thing. What's the secret to being confident when it comes to writing? I feel like I have tons of good ideas, but when they get on paper, they just look disgusting to me.
I slept a bit because of how drained I felt. But when I woke up, despite feeling physically better, I have this overwhelming loss of confidence in my story and my writing for some reason that I can’t seem to shake.
I’m very much a ‘wannabe’ writer. Over the years, with varying degrees of intensity, I’ve written about all aspects of things - life, discovery, relationships, fantasy - and done so avidly. Always harbouring a silly dream of one day being able to share what I do with others and to have others genuinely appreciate what I write.
I've been a dreamer for awhile but I'd like to become more of a doer. The problem is that I lack confidence in myself as a writer. I believe that my ideas have potential, and that as I critic I can separate the wheat from the chaff, but I don't always belief that I can bring them to fruition, or that they won't peter out, or that I was never much of a writer anyway. It's really confusing because I know I care about story: I'm a rabid consumer of narratively rich stories, my inner critic constantly tells me how it could have been done better and I have a creative itch to build massive worlds with characters and stories that bind them. And yet I still tell myself that I'm a not writer. But to be honest I just don't know. I was hoping by starting to write some scripts I would begin to understand if I was cut out for this thing, or more accurately, if I enjoyed doing it. My experiences have led me to doubt that it's neither, but I know I haven't really made things easy for myself. I've never written much more than an essay, or a 20 page story - if it was that long. I want to believe that I can do this but the experience of unraveling these grand narratives in my head has been a rather daunting experience.
How do you overcome a lack of confidence in your writing?
I'm always putting my writing down and I feel that it's never good enough, which prevents me from writing even when I have an idea or excitement for it. I know that the best way to become a better writer is simply through practice, but how can I overcome my lack of confidence so it doesn't feel like I'm digging through hard dirt with my fingernails when I do write?
Is there way I can start in a positive, and stress free way?
Creative writing MFAs? Local writing workshop? Reading as much as you can? Practice, practice, practice? What makes you a good writer?
Personally i'm quite anxious about my writing skills, and I don't know how I could find out if my writing is good / enjoyable. Every time I start working on a story or such, I don't know if it's any good, and for a long time i've been wondering if there's a good way to define if your writing is bad or good.
I'm someone who lack confidence in anything I do, and I rely heavily on outside validation. A part of my mind insists that if even ONE PERSON doesn't like my work, or my style, then I must be trash. Obviously that's rubbish, there's not one thing in the entire universe that everyone likes. Literally not one thing.
In what ways do you feel insecure about writing?
Discussion
To be honest, I just need to know I'm not alone! Hope this turns into a thread so anxious writers like me can gain some confidence. Thanks! :)
By having this mindset, I'm setting myself up for failure and a lot of depression. It's to a point where I question the validity of people's praise. Even if I'm super proud of something, I begin to question if I'm getting too big for my britches with my love for it, and whether I'm being over confident in my skills.
So, I haven't really been writing fanfiction for very long, a little bit less than a year. And I know that I won't just instantly become amazing at writing without trying- but when I reread my WIP right now (one that is my most popular story despite only being around 5 chapters), I can't help but notice how awkward everything reads. My dialogue is pretty good, but everything else just seems... bad. I really just don't want to be known as this person in my fandom that made this story with this really unique idea, but is below average in quality. I really don't want that reputation, but... I can't just abandon my stories. The whole point of me writing fanfiction was so then I would stop abandoning what I'm writing. And how am I supposed to improve if I'm not writing? I seriously feel like a writer's block is coming, and I already take way too much time to put chapters up anyways- I don't want to double that. I honestly don't know what to do. Maybe once I finish the story I could do a major edit or something? I just need some confidence back, maybe some criticism so I know what I'm doing wrong.
So how do you cope? Is this something that happens to you frequently, or only once in a while? Maybe never?
Anyone having similar problems? What were / are your ways of finding out if your writing is good?
I feel like I’ve been following most of the advice there is about creative writing, with the exception of writing something everyday, but I’m still not happy with my work (the lit mag rejections agree). But even publishing aside, it’s rare that I look at something I wrote and feel like I’ve done as well as I could, even after editing.
So I began writing a year ago, for the very first time-- and I did it mostly to get the story off my head and into a paper.
I continued my chapters for a while because it helped me pass my time. But now that I have completed a book [ 71 chapters & 2300 words each ] with full fledged characters, plot, enough drama and suspense, I am considering to get it published. For real.
My story is fantasy-fic.There is going to be a certain degree of influence I may have, because of the previous books I've read from exemplary authors. But I have tried my best to keep it an original.
Which brings me to the problem of lacking confidence and tremendous self-doubt.
I've just recently realized that my writing is complete crap.
Especially during exam time, it's like reading a kid from elemntary trying to express his feelings unto paper.
So, one of the things that bothers me a lot when it comes to writing is that I really lack confidence in my own skills and I can get really upset if my stories don't get feedback (mainly its a lack of comments/reviews that bothers me, but also kudos, favourites, follows, etc) because I feel like they must be terrible in some way. But then I feel guilty for whining because I know other writers get even less engagement than I do. I also end up comparing myself to other authors in terms of output and dedicated readership and things like that.
Monday threads and so on because I just look at my work and I don't feel proud of any of it or that it's worth sharing. I ended up not posting something like the last ten days of the November prompts despite completeing them all because I just got it into my head that they were terrible and nobody cared. I mean, part of the reason I post fanfic is to take part in fandom so I'm always going to be looking for responses to an extent, but it's annoying that it bothers me so much when engagement isn't too great.
So... does anyone have any tips for how to overcome this?
I'm in grade 11 right now, meaning that I have a few months before my marks actually impact me. How should I utilize this few months and drastically improve my writing?
I've tried reading mulitple books (LOTR, GoT, etc) just so I can improve writing, but I lost interest in all of them (Loved the genre/show though). I'm thinking of going to a subreddit for proofreading and try to see what people write and see what I can improve on their writing.
I've read many reviews of fans loving their fav books so much to the point, that they create unofficial head-cannons for their characters. And I consider that, a huge success for the authors.
I've also seen fandom wars where people go on lengths to prove that their choice of book is better than the other. Like the constant Harry Potter vs Percy Jackson quarrel.
While I would love for the world to know my story, I fear that it is of no competition to the ones I mentioned above.I feel so, because both the authors seem highly skilled and professional, not to mention the years of experience they have over me.
I haven't approached anyone to read my drafts because my friends aren't inclined in the field--and as for my family, I rather keep them out of it.
I'm a student starting college, so getting an editor/ agent is beyond the strings of my pocket
I haven't been to any sort of literature/ writing classes, but what I've written so far, seems good enough for an amateur.
Hence I would really love few words of encouragement and advice from you all.
What made you a better writer? Are there real ways of improving or is it just building confidence and resilience? Help.
Is there a training wheels for writers?
How good do you think your writing actually is?
Do you think you're an amazing writer? Why? What was the turning point?
Since writing in subjective and people like different styles etc I think it's really easy to be biased towards your own writing. I'm a junior content writer and I've had some experience editing other pieces. No one has ever told me "this is great writing" but I've had decent academic results and this new job where I'm writing 5/6 articles a week.
I love my writing style and when I read my finished articles I'm pretty impressed with myself. I know I make grammatical mistakes occasionally and I could do with a wider vocabulary but I think that for my experience level my writing is very easy and enjoyable to read. I just don't know how biased I really am and I'm wondering if this is something that every writer experiences? How confident are you with your own writing and is it only outsider opions and feedback that have made you believe your writing is actually 'good'?
Did you use them?
Like many fellow writers, perhaps seeking to gain more confidence in what I produce, fearing I’ll make a silly mistake, I’ve invested significant amounts of time and resources learning how to improve my writing skills. Ive bought and read (sometimes several times) many of the classic texts often suggested for aspiring writers.
And I know my writing today is better than it was a year back, and much, much better than two years ago. But still I hesitate to share my work. When I look back at what I’ve written, even the stuff I poured my heart into, I’m often left feeling ashamed by it. It’s lack of craft or the absence of creativity, the formulaic feel to it. I can’t seem to see past the presentation of the words into the meaning. I doubt others would be so distracted, but nevertheless I can’t get past it.
I don’t know if I’ll ever wrestle free of this… If I’ll ever gain the confidence to be able to share my work, regardless. And while I appreciate the meditative aspects of the creative process, if I’m never to share what’s the point..?
I feel really worried that it’s kind of trash, and I don’t know what to do about it.
Is this a common thing? Is it just something particular to me that I’ll have to do deal with.
Any advice and anecdote would be helpful. Thanks.
How do you, personally, maintain confidence in your own writing? Do you have any tips that you are willing to throw my way? Any and all advice is appreciated.
