The 25-Day Novel Challenge: Day Four

WORD COUNT: 16,006/75,000

We are now four days into the 25-Day Novel Challenge. Today was a bit harder for me than the last few days, largely because I let myself get distracted by the Internet and by my own self-doubt and insecurities.

That’s a pretty common problem among writers, whether newbies who have only one novel out or experienced writers with dozens of books under their belt. We listen and believe the voices in our head that want to keep us from succeeding, that want us to give up writing and do something a little bit easier. I think that some of this doubt comes from laziness, if only because it’s easier not to write than to write, but doubt and insecurity come from all sorts of places and it can be very difficult to ignore it, particularly if you are prone to thinking negatively, as many writers seem to be.

This used to be a much larger problem for me a long time ago, when I was a new writer. Nowadays it doesn’t usually affect me because I’ve come to learn that a lot of the time, these doubts aren’t actually based in reality. Most of the time, they come from fear or laziness or something you heard from someone you know or trust at some point in your life.

As a writer, I’ve learned that my work is always better and worse than I think it is. It’s kind of a paradox, but it’s true. This helps me fight my doubts, because I know that my own opinion of my books is not always objective or correct.

I still strive to do my best with every book, to improve my craft, but I try not to judge myself too harshly. I let readers decide and the only way to let readers decide if my books are any good is to publish them for readers to find, regardless of my own personal doubts and insecurities.