Overcoming self-doubt

This week, I’ve been struggling with discouragement.

I’m an award-winning author. I recently received an endorsement for one of my books from one of the top authors in my genre.

But I still find myself thinking, I can’t do this!

I’ve overcome so many obstacles and weaknesses during my writing journey. But life gets harder. What if I eventually hit an obstacle that overcomes me?

Yep, some might describe me as “successful,” but I still struggle with self-doubt.

So, this week I thought I’d share some of what I’m learning on the battlefield in the hopes that it’ll encourage you and give you some extra ammunition. :)

The hard truth is that none of us are perfect and all of us make mistakes.

Self-doubt might not be the writer’s worst enemy. In fact, it can protect you from publishing poor quality work, from writing something that could hurt someone or from posting something that is biblically inaccurate.

The type of self-doubt that paralyses you is not healthy. Usually, it flows out of what the Puritans called “slavish fear.”

Puritans such as Philip Henry differentiated between “fear” and “slavish fear.” Fear is the healthy warning that protects us. It’s what keeps us from deliberately putting our hand into a fire.

But “slavish fear” is not based on reality.

For example, a four-year-old may have a healthy fear of falling into a swimming pool. But if that child refuses to get into the swimming pool even though he knows his loving father will be right there in the water with him, the child’s fear is no longer rational. He has been enslaved by it.

Are those doubts there because you haven’t taken the time to hone your skills and get feedback on your work?

Or are they simply those evil whispers of the Enemy who loves it when you forget that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you?

Your answers to the following questions will help you identify the source of your self-doubt and will also give you ammunition to overcome it:

• Have I received positive, constructive feedback on my work from people who I trust to be honest? (Don’t base your confidence in the fact that your friend said, “This is a cool story!”)

• Am I rushing into publishing for the sake of publishing? Do I have a legitimate reason for taking things slower?

• Are the people I most trust and respect supporting me in this? (If people who really love you don’t seem to “believe in you,” it might be an indication that you need to keep practicing. I wanted to publish when I was 20, but my parents didn’t think I was ready. It was hard, but I kept working on my skills until, four years later, they read something I wrote and said, “You’re ready to publish!” I do not regret waiting.)

• Am I neglecting any of God’s commands in the way I’m approaching my writing?

• Am I basing my confidence completely on my own abilities?

That last question might seem a bit strange, but it is the most important one. If your answer to it is “yes,” you will definitely struggle with self-doubt.

The fact is that none of us are perfect. We all have blind spots. There’s always something new to learn.

Your abilities will fail you, at some stage. That’s why the best books have a whole team of editors and proof-readers behind them.

The world says, “trust yourself,” but I’d like to point you to more stable sources of confidence.

Enduring, stable confidence flows from:

• The certainty that you are doing what you do because it’s right, not because you think you can.

• Having a clear mission for your writing – a mission worth fighting for.

• Recognising that you will make mistakes but that you can learn from them.

• Resting in the fact that God works through weakness.

• Leaning all your weight on the One for whom nothing is impossible.

Sometimes self-doubt is a healthy warning.

But in my experience, it is more often a form of slavish fear that will destroy your writing dream if you let it paralyse you.

Identify where those doubts come from, fight them with truth and hard work.

And keep writing!

I love all kinds of writing, but fiction is an area that I am particularly passionate about. It’s also an area in which I have a lot of experience. That’s why I’ve created this “Fiction Corner” where I give you practical tips you can implement to improve your storytelling.

This week’s pro tip: Give your villain a similar backstory to your protagonist. Then contrast the ways each character responds to their past. Watch Ice Age (the first one) to see how powerful this technique can be!

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