…3. Keep writing
4. Write down your accomplishments and keep them close at hand
5. Review your accomplishments
6. Change the negative talk to positive
When we go outside our comfort zone, we begin to grow confidence in ourselves. What might that look like? Pitching your story to an agent or publisher, submitting a story to a contest, or maybe it’s just sharing your first story to a group of fellow writers. What is the writing thing that scares you? Then do that thing. The more you do it, the less it will be scary and it might even get to be easy.
Getting advice means connecting with other writers (not one of your family members or friends who doesn’t know much about writing). I inherited a writing group from a fellow writer about eight years ago. I’ve kept it running because I’ve learned more from this group of writers than I ever did from a creative writing class.
The important thing about a critique group is to have rules. For example, in my group the author is only a sponge – there to take notes and nod, but not to defend anything or say things like “I wrote it that way because…”
The group shares one thing that worked/or they liked and up to 3 things that didn’t make sense, they didn’t understand, or that didn’t work for them. This critique is focused on the writing, not the writer.
Keep Writing. The more you write, the more you get feedback, the better writer you’ll be. How to keep writing? Get involved in critique groups, contests, and writing events.
Write down your accomplishments, even if it’s just that you published a blog post, or maybe you just got your first 5 star review on Amazon, or absolutely anything. And when you’re not sure about yourself, take another look at that list.
The Chapterathon events: