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| Photo credit: pabak sarkar on Flickr |
Of course, I know I’m definitely not alone with these feelings.
Please tell me that everyonehits a point in a draft where they truly hate their book and can't remember why they thought it was a good idea.
— Olivia Hinebaugh (@OliveJuiceLots) May 12, 2015
Writing is a really personal experience. Even when you’re not intentionally making it personal or making parallels to your own life, it’s impossible to write without putting parts of yourself into the work, even subconsciously.
Every stage of the writing process has its own moments of terror: whether it’s the brainstorming panic of how will I ever write this book I’ve built up in my head? or the mid-draft my writing sucks block, or the finished draft what the hell did I just write? Then of course there are revisions which come with their own set of anxieties and insecurities that often run along the lines of how am I supposed to fix all of this?
To be honest, I don’t really have a solution or way to avoid this. It’s part of the process, and it’s scary when it happens. But the best remedies I’ve found are to keep going and/or talk to your critique partners (or agent, if that’s something you and your agent do).
But I think the important thing to remember is it does pass. And when you hit this point, know that it’s okay. It’s normal. It’s largely unavoidable and just about every writer goes through it repeatedly.
Experience it. Acknowledge it. Then move on. Just don’t let it paralyze you.
Have you experienced some writer insecurities? How do you get past it?
Twitter-sized bites:
Writer @Ava_Jae says, "it's impossible to write without putting parts of yourself into the work." What do you think? (Click to tweet)
How do you get past writerly insecurities? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
