confidence

How To Gain The Confidence You Need As A Writer

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Having confidence as a writer lets you express yourself freely. However, to do so you need confidence in yourself and in your writing! Do you worry that your writing isn’t good enough? Well you are not alone, and we have compiled some ways to lift your writing confidence:

Practice Writing Regularly

Writing is just like any other skill or hobby, and practicing regularly will help you improve. 

Read Widely

You are probably already an avid reader, but try reading something out of your norm. Pick up a new magazine, blog, or a genre out of your comfort zone. You will learn new techniques and find out what resonates with you. 

Learn About Writing 

In order to perfect your craft and build confidence you need to learn the in’s and out’s of writing. Specify the writing you want to go into, creative writing, blogging, memoirs and learn more about it! The more you learn the more you know!

Ask For Feedback 

Asking a fellow writing friend for feedback is a great way to help improve your writing. I know it can be daunting getting your work critiqued, but once you edit based on the feedback you will have more confidence in it!

Submit Your Publication

This one can also be pretty daunting, but if you submit your work to a blog and they post it that is a big confidence boost! Follow the tips above and make it as good as you can before sending it in. You can also enter competitions to get your writing and name out there. There are so many outlets to explore and that is another reason why you not only have to learn about writing, but the writing world as well. It will be easier to navigate once you build yourself a map. 

All your hard work will pay off.

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Happy Writing!

Building Confidence in Your Craft

Hershman RightsLeave a comment

Having confidence as a writer lets you express yourself freely. However, to do so you need confidence in yourself and in your writing! Do you worry that your writing isn’t good enough? Well you are not alone, and we have compiled some ways to lift your writing confidence:

Practice Writing Regularly

Writing is just like any other skill or hobby, and practicing regularly will help you improve. 

Read Widely

You are probably already an avid reader, but try reading something out of your norm. Pick up a new magazine, blog, or a genre out of your comfort zone. You will learn new techniques and find out what resonates with you. 

Learn About Writing 

In order to perfect your craft and build confidence you need to learn the in’s and out’s of writing. Specify the writing you want to go into, creative writing, blogging, memoirs and learn more about it! The more you learn the more you know!

Ask For Feedback 

Asking a fellow writing friend for feedback is a great way to help improve your writing. I know it can be daunting getting your work critiqued, but once you edit based on the feedback you will have more confidence in it!

Submit Your Publication

This one can also be pretty daunting, but if you submit your work to a blog and they post it that is a big confidence boost! Follow the tips above and make it as good as you can before sending it in. You can also enter competitions to get your writing and name out there. There are so many outlets to explore and that is another reason why you not only have to learn about writing, but the writing world as well. It will be easier to navigate once you build yourself a map. 

All your hard work will pay off. 

Happy Writing!

Breaking Free of Self-Doubt

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Let’s face it, we all have those days when we feel down and something is just off. Sometimes it’s for no apparent reason, while other days it’s because nothing seems to be going your way- whether you got a bad review on your book, a fan posted a nasty comment, or your editor told you that you need to basically re-write your next novel. These days make us start to doubt our ability to succeed. We start to question our talent and wonder if we truly have what it takes to keep going. When you put your work out there to be criticized a lot of good things can happen, but a lot of bad things will probably happen too. We need to find ways to pick ourselves out of that self-doubt and move forward. Every hit of negative criticism makes you a stronger and better writer.

selfdoubt

Today, author Holly Robinson shared four ways that she conquers her self-doubt in a post on The Huffington Post book blog. I thought they were pretty awesome ideas and that many of us could benefit from them- not just in our own writing worlds, but in our every day lives as well.

1. “Work With Your Hands”

Build/do something with you hands- bake something, do an arts project, conquer a landscaping project. Seeing the physical result of your efforts will help you gain some of your confidence back.

2. “Forget About Success”

Stop worrying about what other people think and remember that the main person you create your work for is you. Don’t be afraid to fail. As long as you are happy with the work that you produce, you are already winning.

3. “Stay Flexible”

Try new things- even if it’s just for a few hours. Try writing a different type of genre than usual. Craft up a totally different character than ever before. Create a world that seems completely bizarre to you. It will give you a break from your typical writing and you never know, it might lead you somewhere other than the trash bin.

4. “Keep Your Projects Warm”

Never stop working completely. If you aren’t up for a whole day of writing then just reread a few chapters, edit a few lines, or make outlines for future chapters. The second you stop working, you are letting your self-doubt win.

The only person that can make you succeed or fail is yourself. We all have days of self-doubt, but it’s how we break free that matters. Write On.