Friday, April 29, 2011

And the Doubts Creep In...

I'm working on creating a "wow" ending for my MG novel. I actually haven't started changing any words, though that's my goal for today. As I tried to come up with alternative endings, I hit a road block. I began to doubt.

Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself because I want it to be good. Or maybe it's because I'm so close to the end, I really, really, want to get finished.

I think self-doubt is a writer's biggest enemy. Once it starts creeping in, it can snowball, until pretty soon you think your whole story is garbage. When I start feeling this way, my best solution is to go away from my story and do something totally not related to writing. Then the next day (or whenever) I can come back with a fresh perspective. So that's me today. Taking a chance on one of my endings, determined to make my story bigger and better.

How do you deal with your self-doubts?

5 comments:

  1. I accept that it's going to come, and then it's going to go (even if it doesn't feel like it at the time). Just work through it, is my approach. doesn't matter if what I produce isn't good enough, it's all part of a process, not a one time only hail mary pass.

    mood
    Moody Writing

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  2. Sometimes I find, if I've let myself get daunted, that switching to longhand can help. I'm not sure why - maybe its a bit like a change of scene being as good as a holiday? But somehow it frees me up a bit. Maybe you could try that?

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  3. Self doubt is a writer's bane. When I'm working on a scene and the it's-not-good-enough thoughts creep into my head, I skip back to an earlier scene where I'm happy with my writing. Then I read till I hit a scene that needs work. Once i work through that I'm generally ready to go back.

    Or I sleep on it.

    Good luck. Keep writing. You can do it.

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  4. You CAN do it. You WILL do it. And in the meantime, take comfort in knowing that all writers feel the same. Everyone experiences self-doubt. But look at all the fabulous writing out there. It came from people just like us who were just as worried about whether their writing was garbage. So just try an ending that feels right and see how it goes. If you don't like it, you can always write a better one :)

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  5. Good for you! I understand how you feel. I finished the rough draft of a novel a week. I'm going to let it rest for a couple of months while I work on another novel and then go back to it. I'm hopeful the characters will have solved their own problems. ;)

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