Are You Underestimating Yourself As a Writer?

Source of Featured Image: Jeff Goins | goinswriter.com

As a writer whose knowledge of writing only seems to reach the surface when it’s 100% necessary, I often feel like I underestimate myself. There are days where I wonder if the career should continue to be pursued and others where I can clearly see how much I’ve learned in the last 7 years. It’s a weekly question at the very least: are you underestimating yourself as a writer? Some sub-questions can be used to answer that one.

How much do you really know?

Source of Image: Darius Foroux | thriveglobal.com

This can be a tough sub-question to answer if you’re trying to think about it off the top of your head, so take a look around social media’s writing communities. There’s always questions being asked. Think about some of them and see whether or not you can provide an answer for yourself. You certainly know more than you feel you do if you’re happy and confident with your personal answers.

Are You Surrounded By Piles Of Drafts?

Source of Image: Eileen Gilligan | familytimes.biz

A writer can produce as little as 2-3 drafts or as many as 10+ before producing a great, cohesive story. Having a mere few beside you doesn’t mean you’re a master and being surrounded by piles of them doesn’t mean you’re incapable. Would you not find a writer with 10+ drafts more trustworthy for ironing out as many details as they can after looking at their story from every angle? That’s not to knock those who don’t generate as many, it’s all dependant on the writer, the story and what they wish to accomplish with it. My point is don’t find ways to hinder yourself. The journey is different for everyone.

These are two fairly simple questions that anyone can ask, and no doubt almost everyone has asked, but my purpose for this is to get you thinking of reasons why you should appreciating your abilities. You won’t feel on point every day and because of that, you might find it easier to underestimate yourself. Don’t worry about the days you do, you clearly know more than you think you do in those moments.

Note: Don’t Let Rejections/Unsuccessful Competition Entries Get You Down

I can’t underline that enough, so I’ll type it out again: Don’t Let Rejections/Unsuccessful Competition Entries Get You Down! Rejections of any kind and the capability to write do not correlate. There’s no avoiding these bumps along the road. “There’s always someone better” has to be a saying because when you’re competing with others, you’ll feel it to be true and then 2 options present themselves: keep submitting until you find success and become that better to someone who wants to invest in your work or find your own way, a different way, to achieve exactly what you want. The options are limitless, some just haven’t been invented yet.