How To Stop Self-Doubt From Holding You Back From Writing

Self-doubt can be a crippling weight, especially for writers. Today we have writing mentor Leigh Shulman with us, and she has some terrific, actionable ways to use prompts to turn self-doubt on its head (and get you writing again!)

I’ve never met a writer who didn’t doubt. You worry you’re not good enough. You wonder if anyone even wants to read your writing. You even begin to suspect that unless your writing fills some very specific criteria, you couldn’t possibly be a real writer at all.

Problem is, worrying about all these things holds you back from writing. Instead of sharing writing for feedback or sending work out for publication, doubt gets you mired in the mud and stuck. 

But what if doubt could propel you forward instead of holding you back?

I created these four journaling prompts to help you dance with fear and follow your instinct as you become a stronger and more confident writer.

Prompt One: Let Go of Doubt with an Unstructured Free Write

This is the most powerful writing exercise I know because it helps you move past self-consciousness and get your ideas on paper. In twenty years of writing and teaching, it has never failed me. 

When to use this prompt: 

When you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed or you’re simply not sure where to begin. This is a perfect prompt to move through resistance.

How to use this prompt:

You’ll need a timer plus your desired method of writing. Use a pen and paper or type directly on a computer. Whichever works best for you.

Set the timer for ten minutes and write for ten minutes without stopping. No editing, erasing or crossing anything out. If you don’t like what you’re writing, simply move to the next line and continue with your next thought. If you have nothing to say at first or you think this is the most ridiculous exercise ever, write that down.

What to do next:

Read through your freewriting, circling any ideas that jump out at you as interesting. Let your instinct guide you. Those circled ideas become the seeds for finished essays, stories, scenes, and books.

Prompt Two: Dive Deep into Your Doubt

When to use this prompt:

Any time self-doubt hits. Instead of pretending you don’t feel the way you do, embrace it and write.

How to use this prompt:

As with unstructured free writing, you’ll set a timer for ten minutes. This time, dive into what you’re feeling. Explore the edges of your emotion by writing down what you experience.

Where do you feel doubt in your body? Does your stomach tighten or do your hands go cold? What sparks the doubt? 

Use the Emotion Thesaurus to answer these questions, too. What verbs connect to the sensations you experience? What happens with your doubt once it begins? Does it escalate into full worry and disbelief? Or can you ease your doubt and turn it into curiosity?

What to do next:

Apply your personal experience of doubt — or any emotion for that matter — to your characters or in a personal essay. You can lift passages directly from your journaling and edit them to fit a story or scene.

Prompt Three: Talk to Your Haters

When to use this prompt:

When you find yourself stuck because you believe no one wants to read your writing or when you imagine you’re writing to a specific audience.

How to use this prompt:

Write about the audience you imagine not wanting to read your work. What do they look like? Where do they live? Why do you believe they won’t like what you have to say?

Or perhaps there’s a misunderstanding? What is it your reader really wants? And what about your writing will resonate with them?

What to do next:

This process of diving into the thinking of another person is the basis of character building. You can incorporate this person into something you write.

This prompt also helps you develop your author branding and platform building. When you have a clear idea of who wants to read your writing and why you know where to reach out and how to find your readers.

Prompt Four: Problem Solve with a Targeted Free Write

When to use this prompt:

You know basically what you want to write, but you’re not sure how to write it. Or you have so many ideas, you’re not sure which to choose. Whether perfecting your storytelling, fleshing out characters or understanding why a scene isn’t working, targeted free writing allows you to explore your options and experiment.

How to use this prompt:

Instead of writing whatever comes to mind as you would in an unstructured free write, begin with a question you have related to your writing. Some examples of what you can ask yourself:

• What will happen next in the story?
• What does my character want?
• Which of the subplots need development?
• Any other quandary you currently face with your work-in-progress. 

Then write for ten (or more) minutes to answer your question.

What to do next:

Use the solutions you uncover and apply them to your works in progress. Try something, see how it works. If it doesn’t fit your needs, try something else.

People often avoid journaling, because they wonder what worth free writing can be if no one ever reads it. What if you develop an idea and it ends up being the wrong one?

This is simply part of what it means to be a writer. Yes, you will likely write pages you’ll never use. But the more you practice, the more you move past the resistance and doubt that holds you back.

For more ways to get past self-doubt, download this Build Your Writing Confidence worksheet.

What helps you get back to writing when self-doubt hits? Let me know in the comments!

Leigh Shulman is a writer and writing mentor with over 20 years experience. She’s the author of The Writer’s Roadmap: Paving the Way To Your Ideal Writing Life. Her online writing mentorship program The Workshop guides writers as they create a business plan for their writing lives then make their plans happen. For more ways to get past self-doubt, download her Build Your Writing Confidence worksheet.

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