My subject of rambling for today, while my husband sleeps, is on the fun subject of self doubt. This is something that plagues me, and it plagues every other writer who isn't an egotistical bastard at least once in their writing career. No one, despite belief, myths and other tales, is born a perfect writer. At age five, Stephen King could NOT have written the Stand.

Take comfort in that.

When you write, you dedicate your time and energy into the piece you are working on. It is a job, and you want to do well at it. But each word carries with it that feeling of doubt, where you wonder if it is good enough.

This doubt is what we are going to battle today, or attempt to.

First, you need to tell yourself, especially in the first draft, that quality isn't important. There are only a few writers who can write a 'rough' draft and have them publishable quality without edits. I have managed this ONCE with a short story, and it was sold to the first publisher I tried. (Granted, a lower ranking one, but sold nevertheless.)

It took several things to get there: Practice, and lots of it, and a bit of an ego. A belief that I could write well enough to focus on telling the story.

Writing well enough is a variable. Some days, the words you write down to paper will become as gold, sparkling as they leave your fingers. Others, they will slither out like slugs, leaving goopy yickiness behind. The combination of these good and bad days is what will make you a unique writer in the future.

But, for now, you must deal with the doubt. Will it be good enough?

Yes, yes, yes. You can write total crap, and it will be good enough. In the drafting phase that is. (Feel free to battle self doubt as much as you want in edits. WALLOW in it, my friends. Throw it in the air as a child would dandelions.)

So, what can you do to get rid of the doubt?

Step one: Improve your writing. This takes time, and practice. Look at your daily writing as a way you can improve your grammar, characterizations, and plot. Do research online. READ. Reading is a good way of improving how you write, as you get to see how published writers do it. Emulate them. Learn from them.

Learn, eventually, from yourself. Find out what style fits your needs. Me, I decided from the start to eliminate had, have, was, be and similar words as often as possible to remain in the active voice. I practiced this, and found it a style I am increasingly more comfortable with.

But, it takes practice, but practice is the key to eliminating self-doubt.

Next, you must grow hard skin. Don't take what others say personally. It is about your writing, not you. Your writing, through effort and hard work, can be fixed. Convince yourself of this on a daily basis. Have a few friends you trust give you the harshest critiques they can. Get used to it, and use their comments to improve your work.

Writing is a lonely work. It requires dedication, practice, and guts. It is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. But, write yourself a note, hang it on your monitor. You CAN do it, even if it takes a little time and a lot of effort.

Don't convince yourself otherwise, as that road only leads to grief.