Whenever I go longer than five minutes without checking in on something I’m writing, I start to doubt myself. The longer I go, the more that gremlin has time to fester and grow, until I’ve talked myself into believing that my six year old niece could string together a more coherent story than I can and that everything is garbage.
My niece is pretty cool, but I can still write better than she can. For now.
When I discovered that I wasn’t the only person who feels this way, it was a relief. If VE Schwab feels this way about their writing, and, I mean, they’re VE SCHWAB, then the odds that I am a terrible writer go way down.
I honestly wish I could make myself be more productive. I should have had this novel revised about ten times by now. I know that it isn’t edited has more to do with my fears than my schedule. Do I have things to do? Certainly. Do I have THAT many things to do that I can’t squeeze in an hour of editing? No.
So if you are a writer out there who is struggling with feeling like an incompetent glob of goo, take this:
It’s probably not true. You’re probably a decent writer who just needs to work on their project more. So do as I say, not as I do, and go write. Just open up that project and say hi to it. Spend five minutes with it. It won’t be as bad as you fear.