Blogging Insights # 22- Writer’s Self Doubt

Dr. Tanya asks;

You have heard a lot about Writer’s Block, read and perhaps written about it too. I did an installment of Blogging Insights about it which you can read here. Self Doubt is an affliction that affects writers nearly as often as writer’s bock. You might have seen those stereotypical pictures: an author sits at his desk, writing feverishly. All around him on the floor, are crumpled and screwed up sheets of paper. Or he might have been fastidious and then you will see a huge bin overflowing with crumpled up sheets of drafts and revisions. For the 21st century writer, the picture is a little different. You either keep editing or re-writing the same piece of work on your device or you hit delete and create a new document altogether. Whatever your modus operandi, the worm of doubt can cast a shadow on your best creation. Today’s Blogging Insights is about this fear/doubt/lack of confidence that attacks writers from time to time. The format today is a little different as you have noticed already. I have begun with a longer preamble and I am going to ask only ONE question which I will answer myself first.

Question

How often are you afflicted by self-doubt and what do you do about it?

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There are many many situations in life where I second guess myself at first. I am the sort of person who takes decisions that affect others, very seriously. But once I have made up my mind, I go with it.

The same is in writing.

As I have often said in my blog that before starting this blog my experience of writing was from my school days. After those days, I didn’t write anything much, maybe just grocery lists. So with my blog, I started a brand new journey. To write for fun. To write for myself and others too. It was a novel experience.

At first, I was amazed that someone is interested in what I am writing. But with the support I got from all my blogging friends, my confidence increased and I started writing with much more panache!

Do I experience self-doubt?

Yes, I do but not too often. The reason is that I don’t write to sell anything or to promote anything. Nor do I write to gain likes and followers. If people like what I write I am happy that my message is getting through. And it gives a boost to my ego, that is the truth.

I write a lot of posts every day. Some of them are just lighthearted rambles and some I write with an intent to give a message. So for the former, I just go with the flow and for the latter, I give it enough time and thought so it is a worthwhile post. And in this process, I do get stuck sometimes. I have to decide if I want to post it or not. Some, like the daily challenges, I let it go, but if it is a post that I want people to take notice of, I sometimes delete the entire post and start from scratch.

At the end of the day, What really counts is if you yourself are satisfied with the post. And if you just press the publish button.

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