How to be Confident in Your Writing

Have you ever felt that your writing lacks quality, that no matter what you do, it never seems to improve? If so, my friend, you need to learn how to be more confident in your writing.

A lack of self-confidence, no matter what it may be related to, tends to cause poor results and consequently, get even worse as time goes on.

For this reason, you need to work on improving that aspect of yourself so that you may be on your merry way to success and happiness as a writer as soon as possible. To aid you in that venture, here is some advice on how to become a little more confident in your writing.

Value Your Efforts

First off, you must understand that no one is born a writer, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or anything. When Tolkien´s mother was giving birth, he didn’t come out holding The Hobbit´s manuscript now did he?

Every letter, word, and paragraph that you write is an invaluable experience that, as it keeps accumulating on and on, gradually makes you a much better writer.

Remember, the moment you put your hands on a pen or keyboard and start typing, you are already working on yourself as a writer. The secret to becoming better at it just happens to be the same as with any other activity known to man, be consistent.

Read, a Lot

There is nothing more valuable for a writer than experiencing other people’s work. Don’t forget that all writers started out as readers originally. 

Gaining an understanding of other works allows you to learn many ways of improving yourself as a writer and knowing exactly where you are at.

That being said, the point of it is not to compare and belittle yourself with other people´s work, especially world-famous ones, but rather to objectively look at them and yours and find aspects that you might be able to improve on.

At the end of the day, what matters most is your own attitude and how you approach the subject. It’s safe to say that you must have an optimistic and inquisitive attitude, always absorbing as much knowledge as you can and picking up on the things that can make you a better writer.

Don’t Be Afraid of Failure

Write, write, and keep writing. Don’t stop yourself or be afraid of putting your abilities to the test. You don’t lose when you try, only when you don’t.

In the same vein as what was mentioned before about Tolkien, you will definitely, in most cases at least, need to gain a lot of experience to create high-quality pieces.

So keep on writing when you feel like it, without any fear of what might come out. Even if the result does not meet your expectations it is still the result of your efforts and one less step to becoming better at it.

When you take notice of this, you will be able to look back at your previous works and see how much you have grown as a writer. This will also let you see how much confidence you have unknowingly won because of those previous efforts.

And if you are looking for new, fresh ideas to take you out of your comfort zone don’t look further than LivingWriter´s templates. In our repertoire you can find a wide variety of options for how to write a new story, with instructions and advice included!

Seek Advice and Feedback

While this may look like a double edge sword, feedback and criticism are all about how you take them. As a matter of fact, most people see it as a source of concern and frustration, and as a result, shy away from it. But you should do exactly the opposite of that.

Harsh criticism definitely produces frustration and concern over the quality of your work, but you shouldn’t let those negative feelings drive you away from writing. Rather, use them to fuel your ambition in becoming better at it.

Take advantage of every constructive criticism thrown your way and I use it to build upon your skills. If you do this, in no time you will see the positive results of this attitude, such as getting long-awaited praise. Although praise alone shouldn’t be your main goal of course.

It’s All About the Small Things

A walk in a park, a beautiful sunset, encouraging words from a loved one or friend, it doesn’t take much to raise your spirits enough to start appreciating your own writing. When you understand that everything has a journey, you begin to recognize that all you have been doing had meaning. 

No matter if the product was bad or good, it has a place in your journey as a writer.

So, keep it up, stop belittling yourself and worrying about every small detail, because there is value in whatever you produce with your pen or keyboard. 

Sooner or later you will be able to cherish every trouble and hurdle you faced on the road to becoming an excellent writer because each one of them had a purpose.