“Everything you want is on the other side of fear. ”
Jack Canfield, author
Every writer struggles with self-doubt.
You worry no one will like your book.
You worry that you don’t have a natural talent for writing and you worry you’re a great big fraud.
You start taking action only to be halted again and again by self-doubt and you don’t reach your goals.
And that little voice in your head is shouting “Who do you think you are trying to write a book?”
Does any of the sound familiar?
The way to overcome self-doubt is to write anyway.
Self-doubt shows up because you’ve allowed it to. Letting self-doubt keep you from working on your book is like feeding a stray animal. Once you fed the animal or self-doubt they become your friend for life. While feeding a stray animal may have favorable consequences however, training self-doubt to come again and again will only eat your motivation.
You need to stand up to self-doubt whenever it makes an appearance. No matter how loud it gets or how mean the insults, keep pushing through.
One of the reasons self-doubt creeps in is because we tend to write for too long and our brain gets tired. When that happens we question our abilities.
The best way to overcome self-doubt is to write for 10 – 15 minutes at a time. Record your progress and your word count each time.
Write morning pages as author Julia Cameron has called them. These three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness, writing will provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize, and synchronize the day at hand.
You’ll begin to see progress and once you’re in a good writing flow, the monster of self-doubt will disappear and you’ll be left alone to focus on your book.
How has self-doubt kept you from writing?
About Rebecca
I’m Rebecca Camarena, book coach and best-selling author and I would love to connect with your further. If you’re a first time or second time author interested in learning how to write and/or publish the book of your dreams then consider signing up for my newsletter, check out my services page, purchase my books, or leave me a message on my contact me.