Hey Gang! Sorry if the title of this post is
misleading. To clear the air let me say this isn't an egregiously late A-Z
offering. Nor is it a post featuring naughty words. This is still a family blog
after all. Well, mostly. (Last week's incriminating nun-spanking photo notwithstanding.)
Nope, I've just been thinking a lot about
confidence--or perhaps the lack thereof--and its effects on the writing
process.
No doubt that confidence is essential to good
writing. A favorite author blogger of mine recently made some outstanding
observations about the impact of confidence on voice. (READ IT HERE. If you
don't already follow MOODERINO, do it now.) The point was made that
inexperienced writers might find writing in first-person POV an easier way of
inflecting character into their, well, characters.
The logic? It often takes more daring, or
confidence, on the part of a writer to mix their particular flavor into
third-person (or other POV) because it's clearly coming from the author. First
POV makes it easier to BE the character, and not the author.
Confidence plays a huge part in all the other areas
of craft as well. The words you use, the descriptions, become richer as your
belief in your power to wield them grows. Cold isn't a good enough descriptor
when you know you can do better. A shining sun just isn't as bright as burning
blades of light dancing with the morning sky.
Similarly, plots thicken as you gain confidence.
You don't worry as much about throwing a major curveball at a story when you
know you can write your way out of it. In turn, the story becomes a deeper and
more rewarding experience as you take more chances.
Playing it safe is perhaps the fiercest enemy of
good writing, and confidence is the weapon to beat it.
So we know confidence is a good thing. We need it.
But what about when it turns on us? While confidence is powerful, it is also
fragile. To the point we can be roaring with it by our side at one moment only
to be left silent and alone the next.
In writing, there are many, many, many--OK, there
aren't really enough M-A-N-Y keystrokes left in this keyboard to get them all
down--ways in which our confidence can be assaulted.
I'll reference another blog post I read this week.
Author Deborah J. Ross pointed out the impact negative writing relationships
can have on our confidence. (READ IT HERE) What made her post so interesting is
that she specifically addressed what happens when our writing "friends"
turn on us--even subconsciously.
She is careful to point out that not everyone in our
writing group is out to get us, nor do most people join critique groups to
undermine others. It kind of just happens. Subtle comments about poor genre
choices for our writing, constant ‘it’s good but not publishable’ feedback, undermining
our successes with gossip, etc. It all adds up to make us question our
abilities.
Deborah makes an excellent and, I thought, very
brave point: it’s hard to say when a trusted critique partner just becomes a
critic, but it happens. We need to be cautious. We need to protect our
confidence.
That’s just one example of how our writing
confidence can be stripped away. There are more obvious ways too. Like being
rejected by agents, receiving bad reviews, exploring the abandoned manuscripts graveyard
on our hard drive--the list seems unfairly long when compared to the things
that can build our confidence.
But that’s really the key, isn’t it? We can grow
our confidence. It can be nurtured and strengthened. In that way, confidence is
organic, not magic.
Quick Tricks for Building Writing Confidence:
Examine Your Best – We’ve all written at least a
couple of things we’re proud of. Maybe it’s a poem. Maybe it’s a paper we got
an outstanding grade on in high school or college. Maybe it’s a glowing
sentence. Whatever it is, go back and read it or dwell on it for a moment.
You’ve done it once; you can do it a million more times if you stick with it.
Talk Ideas With Anyone – This doesn’t have to be
done with a writing person. Use your spouse, your friends—anyone who’ll listen,
and preferably someone who gets excited about ideas. Tell them about concepts you’ve
got for stories. Tell them about what you’d like to do with the characters in
your WIP. Basically, dream big. Talk as if you have the skills to pull off any
scenario, and the chops to break necks with all the twists you’ve got planned.
You’ll feel energized and might even remember why you (hopefully) started
writing in the first place. The story!
Believe in the Process – All too often when I think
about how much time I’ve invested in writing (all the hours spent putting words
down, the books I’ve read on craft, etc.), I’m left feeling bitter and
inadequate, not proud. Why? Because I don’t feel I have has as much to show for
it as I should.
Here’s a different way of looking at it: I’ve
invested the time. I continue to work at it every day. That means I’m getting
better, even if the tangibles say otherwise.
I come from a family of farmers. Every farmer
questions if all the work and watering is going to payoff until they see the
first sprouts. Shoot, sometimes it takes eating that first tomato before it
really gets rewarding. Yet the best farmers are persistent and dogged about
routine in the face of the doubt, because they believe in the process. Believe
in your process. It will yield fruit.
Have you lost confidence in your writing abilities before? What are your tricks for getting it back?
~EJW~
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