Today I decided to write about instant gratification because lets face it the world we live in now is all about getting what we want immediately. For instance, remember when we were kids and Mom would take pictures, we'd have to wait a week or more to get them developed (and that was fast!). Now my kids are like "Can we see it?" and there it is on the the screen for them to view right away.
Its the same for almost everything. Music - instant downloads from Itunes. You have a question - immediately look up the answer on our phones of all things. You want a book that came out today? Sure you don't even have to go to the bookstore anymore. Just download it to your IPad. We're all about instant gratification in this age.
Well for those of us without agents and editors (those with them you still know what I'm talking about because you didn't start out with them) or writing groups for that matter, writing is extremely hard because we don't get that instant feedback. We don't have people telling us right away that this chapter is fantastic! or tweak this and it will be a thousand times better. I'm not sure if I can talk for every author out there but I know I feel it - Self Doubt. And insecurity is killer in the writing industry.
Its the same for almost everything. Music - instant downloads from Itunes. You have a question - immediately look up the answer on our phones of all things. You want a book that came out today? Sure you don't even have to go to the bookstore anymore. Just download it to your IPad. We're all about instant gratification in this age.
Well for those of us without agents and editors (those with them you still know what I'm talking about because you didn't start out with them) or writing groups for that matter, writing is extremely hard because we don't get that instant feedback. We don't have people telling us right away that this chapter is fantastic! or tweak this and it will be a thousand times better. I'm not sure if I can talk for every author out there but I know I feel it - Self Doubt. And insecurity is killer in the writing industry.
The intangibility of our trade makes it hard to feel like a success - at least before publication (afterward is a completely different story) - without someone there telling us that their opinions on our work. How do we know its any good?
So how do you deal with self doubt? How do you reassure yourself that what you are writing is really worth reading?
I posted this before but I figured it could bear repeating.
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
~Sylvia Plath
