Hi everyone and welcome back. I hope the week is being nice to you all so far. I am mostly looking forward to the rest of mine, since it involves time off or getting off work early, but I just need to be patient and it'll get here. I will warn everyone, I am a little tired today. Something about car alarms going off at some point in the early morning. I understand it taking a while to turn it off the first time (no one wants to realize that irritating sound is coming from their car) but what about the second, or third times? There's no reason for it, you know the car alarm is going off, so why make everyone else suffer? Jerk. Anyway, you're not here for this.
You're actually here to talk about writing and things like that. I've mentioned patience before and how it is a beneficial part of every step of the writing process, which is why it's going to be an underlying theme for today. Today's topic is going to be able building up your own confidence. I know that doesn't actually seem like a 'writing' topic, but hear me out, because at the core anything that you create yourself and put out there to be scrutinized by the public is a test of your confidence. Which is why we're bringing it up today.
Putting yourself out there even for a job interview is an absolutely terrifying experience. The fact you are completely exposed and asked to talk about yourself is just terrible, at least for more people who aren't narcissists. Think about the scale that is releasing a book, regardless of whether or not you're going through an agency or doing it yourself. Even if at first you're just showing it to people that you know, they will show it to others and then suddenly people you don't know are asking you what your writing process is. This is incredibly awkward and there is a strong desire to give them the right answer, but it's all a trap; there is no right answer. Your process is your process, not someone else's or the universe's, it's your's and really that's all the people want to talk about.
This is a test of confidence because you are going to feel picked apart, especially when someone does a review. Look at anything on Amazon, even a calendar of cat pictures, there are going to be good and bad reviews. Some of them are going to be legitimate pieces of constructive criticism, but one doesn't need to go further than YouTube to know that isn't always the case. There will be people who will rip into your story simply because there's something in there they feel is insulting to the way they live, or they are just being a jerk and trying to start fights on the internet with anyone they can because that's how they think it makes them powerful and in control. Those situations will be a beating against your self esteem, and all you can really do is keep yourself up. Yes it's hard because quite frankly as cool as it would be, not everyone is going to like your book, but you already know you can't please everyone, so just take what you can get and go with it
When things seem down, you need to remember the reason you're writing in the first place and use that as your strength. Maybe you're writing your story so that you can honor someone you love, or you wanted to write something your children or young family members could enjoy, or maybe even just to prove to the world you can take on something like writing a full-length novel. You don't need to let the world get you down as long as you remember why you're doing what you're doing and keep moving forward. Keep your circle of friends close since they will be your support and will be able to remind you in times you aren't so sure of yourself. Either way keep it up, it's a long process and you need to keep moving.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I hope my post was helpful at least in the confidence building way. I am looking forward to a day of not doing anything followed by a half-day of work and the Launch Party for Theros (that's right, more M:tG and I'm not sorry). I will be back on Friday barring any disasters early in my day. I hope the rest of the week is nice to all of you! See you then!
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