Writing A Novel - Insecurity

Writing a novel holds many parallels to my former career of teaching. Writing a novel is fun, liberating and exhilarating, but before all of that it is terrifying. Stephen King says the scariest part of writing a novel is right before you begin. I agree, but I wish to add to that. I think the most terrifying part is before you begin any new stage - starting the first draft, beginning the rewrites, asking for readers, and, of course, sharing your work publicly. 

Almost everyone has experienced the final product of all of the hard work, so it seems like anyone should be able to do it. I have blogged about this before when it comes to teaching. The short end of it is, since most people have somewhere around a decade and a half (or more) exposure to teaching as a student, it can be perceived that you have seen it done enough times that you get the gist of the job. I believe the same thing happens to writing. If you read enough books, you might start to think to yourself, Hey wait a second! I can write one of these! In both cases - teaching and writing - there is so much more that happens before you get to the final experience! When it is done right, those at the final product stage - students and readers - know nothing about that.

Where Does the Insecurity Come From?

As a teaching coach I helped many teachers in their classroom with insecurity. I began with telling my colleagues to embrace the fact that it wasn't going anywhere and that it was perfectly natural. I believe the same holds true for writing. Here's why, in both the teaching and writing profession, insecurity has such a happy home:

• You are asked to create something alone - from your own mind, heart and creative spirit - and then expose it to the world. 
• You have seen an immeasurable amount of people do the same thing with perfection, confidence and ease.
• You will be exposed to varying critics, who have their own individual tastes, that may affect your success in your career.
• It feels as though one public mistake will follow you forever.

There are more little insecurities that weave their way in and out of our everyday creating, but I believe these are the biggies.

How To Battle The Insecurity

So how do we fight against insecurity? First we have to fully understand that it is not necessarily something that is ever "beaten." Feeling insecure in these professions is a sign that you are human. Now, was I as insecure in my twelfth year of teaching as I was in my first? Of course not! So the goal is to minimize our insecurities and to ensure they don't stop us from taking those fun risks that result in fantastic creative products. Here are some things to remember when you are feeling insecure:

• You are always learning. 
• All the successful writers you love experience the same insecurities you do.
• Everyone makes mistakes, they can be both forgiven and forgotten.
• Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.
• Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.

You Are Not Your Work 
 
I wrote the last line twice because I believe it is the most liberating. It also harkens back to my own personal greatest weakness - defining myself by my work (which is especially sucky when two chronic illnesses rip you out of the working world and chuck you into bed). So let's say this one more time:

Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.  

Even if you have a jerk critic who starts to talk about you while criticizing your work - that is their misconception of how this thing works, not a reflection on you. If you write a terrible novel (I have) and it somehow makes it out into the public eye (I haven't been that lucky yet),  then it is that novel that is terrible, not you. Even if it was your dream that it would be a success and the story was one you had floating in your head since you were a little child, the fact that it didn't succeed is not about you being a failure; the story was. Perhaps in five year's time you'll be able to see exactly why, but don't let it drag you down now. 

Be The Man In The Arena

By far, one of my favorite quotes from my favorite US President has always been the following from Theodore Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic" on April 23, 1909 in Paris. I believe every successful writer (and teacher!) carries this sentiment in their heart:  

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
 

 So, as you continue to write your novel today, go ahead and dare greatly, knowing that the only way you could do such a thing is if somewhere, in the depths of your soul, your were scared out of your mind because of some silly little insecurity. 

Thanks for reading!

What makes you most insecure about writing?

How do you battle against your insecurities?