How do you gain confidence in your novel?

I'm sure it's normal. But you'll never know if your tripe is golden unless you allow someone to read it. It takes to courage to be a writer. Courage, I say!

I don't know of a writer who hasn't felt the same. You put your heart and soul into that work and it is YOU hanging out there. And you ask another to come along and tell you what's wrong with it, and then you bite your nails for fear that disapproval of the work is a reflection on your person.

My betas on my first novel were merciless because I told them to be, and I thanked them for their remarks afterward because they were right. It was hard to take, but it saved me from blundering forth into rejectionitis. Waiting for their response was torture. The criticism that came without much praise was a lesson in how far I had to go as a writer.

I still have far to go.

I expect it's pretty normal just don't give into it too long or you'll paralyze yourself! I was lucky. I had my son read my first three chapters and give me feedback, then he read the manuscript when it was completed. I think once you've had your first reader you'll relax. Keep in mind that not everyone is going to like what you write. I've had a couple of awful reviews but by and large the book is well received. So, screw up your courage and let someone read it. If you haven't already done so, you might want to post your opening chapter on Share Your Work. That way you can get feedback from people you'll probably never meet.
Linnea

Totally normal.

My first book was just picked up and I still feel like the publisher is going to wake up any minute and realize, "Hey, this sucks!" and pull out of my contract. Just recognize that when you read your own stuff, you're not reading it in the perspective that others do. and that other people pick up on the nuances and voice that we miss because we've seen it so many times. Hope that helps.

I wrote for years and would not let anyone read it. This past year I started taking my writing seriously and let a friend read my first completed novel. I thought I'd have a panic attack handing those pages over to be read by someone other than me for the first time. A year later I'm a little better but still cringe at the thought of someone reading my words and thinking it all sounds like crap. I think most of us feel that way.

KTC said:

This is absolutely normal. I feel sick knowing that my manuscript is out...not because I'm nervous about the outcome and whether or not it will be published...but because somebody is actually reading it. It horrifies me. I think you are by far not alone.

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KTC, just be glad my mother isn't reading it.

Normal, or not, it's my fear also.

I think we all put on a gradually constructed public face that creates a persona with which we become comfortable. When we write, we open up our thoughts and emotions to public scrutiny, and we can't easy change them once they are put into print.

I suppose it gets easier once you've stepped over the threshold of fear and walked into that new world, but I'm not there yet.

I have a mini anxiety attack when people read my work.
I started querying and now it's even worse, because I don't want to be slush. I don't want to be so bad they can't believe I'm delusional enough to think they may be interested in it.
I think I need a xanax.

The first time you try and build a cabinet or a table, do you expect it to be perfect? The first time you play billiards, or the first time you write a sonata?

Why do people expect so much from the first novel they complete? Of course parts might suck. (Parts might be excellent, too.) In fact, it wouldn't be a disaster if the whole thing sucks. Remember that what you see on the market as "first novels" are "debut novels", many of which aren't the writers' first books at all. Even when they are, they have probably been through many readings, and then been through the critiques of an agent and a professional editor.

Sure, you should always do the best work you can, but you shouldn't feel as if your life and career are resting on the first book you write. At best, maybe you accomplished something, but at worst it was good experience and will help you write your second book.

But you can't get any help or any perspective until you get it out there for feedback. When we keep our books clutched close to us for fear of what others will say, we are protecting our egos, not protecting the book.

If you don't want to get punched in the nose every so often, you should stay out of the boxing ring. So what if we get our feelings hurt? Go for it, and pat yourself on the back for having the courage to get clobbered.

This is my second. It still feels like that, David I.


Trish, flinching in anticipation of the clobbering.

Stew21 said:

This is my second. It still feels like that, David I.


Trish, flinching in anticipation of the clobbering.

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Trish, you fool, haf you learnt nossing?

So much for clobber. Yeah, I think it goes on, unto the third and fourth generation of books one writeth.

You know, I understand. When I finished my first novel I freaked out. I thought I'd feel relieved, but I was depressed and felt sick. It was weird. I'm beginning to gain confidence b/c some people have read it and love it. but I'm nervous about sending it out to agents...i'm actually more nervous about the pitch than the novel. how in the world do you get someone to love your story through a few lonely sentences?

CaroGirl said:

I'm sure it's normal. But you'll never know if your tripe is golden unless you allow someone to read it. It takes to courage to be a writer. Courage, I say!

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Absolutely!

Or in my case, nihilistic recklessness.

Three books in print, another on the way and I still feel like the emperor with no clothes. Any day now, someone will point at my stuff and say "See? He thought he was an author!", everyone will giggle and I'll go back to writing software instead.

You need a healthy dose of self-doubt so as not to become the author who refuses to listen to editorial advice because their work is golden in first draft. After that, it's a balancing act.

You have to show it to people, because no matter how much you edit it, your betas will find out things you missed. In published books, one can often see an acknowledgment note with the names of the author's betas. I certainly would not have any confidence in my writing if my readers didn't help me out.

If you are serious about your work you should show it. Good luck!
Rose

Stew21 said:

This is my second. It still feels like that, David I.
Trish, flinching in anticipation of the clobbering.

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Oh, the anxiety never ends.

Henry Fonda, at age 70, still ran into the bathroom to throw up every time before he went on stage.

All I'm saying is that you still have to go onstage. There isn't ever going to be a time when you're comfortable and confident and ready to take on the world without an iota of fear.

Or, if that time ever comes--you're probably in trouble!!!

I can't ever imagine it going away.

I certainly felt it in bucketloads when it came to the delivery of my second historical crime novel. I had been signed up to a two book deal both in the UK and the US. The first book was written, but the second was an unknown quantity as far as the publishers were concerned. I was convinced that when it was delivered there would be much wringing of hands as they wondered what on earth had possessed them to ask for two books from this idiot. The situation was made worse because my UK publisher (Faber) was responsible for transmitting the finished ms to the US publisher (Penguin) and it went astray. (Don't ask.) Long months waiting for feedback. Me too paranoid and insecure to chase anyone up over it. I was convinced they were not feeding back because they hated it and were trying to work out how to tell me. (As if this would actually concern them!) I then heard from my US editor that he was leaving Penguin - so I thought that explained why I hadn't heard, because there were things going on behind the scenes. But in fact he had never received it. So now there was a new editor assigned and I was now convinced that she would hate it because she would resent inheriting an author from her predecessor. But anyhow she sent me an email saying she'd read it, loved it, etc... had no changes to make to the UK edit. Of course, I explained that to myself by saying she had written it off - it was so bad that there was no use spending any time working on it. May as well just fulfil the contract and move on to the next thing.

I probably shouldn't be saying all this. But this was the stuff that went through my head, still does.

Like most writers, I imagine, I'm a strange and very unlikeable mixture of monstrous ego and quivering insecurity.

Totally normal. For me it's not because I'm afraid of being criticized (I've had lots of practice, lol). I just always have this inner voice that says what I'm writing/written is really dumb. I've had magazines publish articles I wrote where the editors told me my work was amazing, but before I submitted it, I thought my article was terrible.

I still have trouble with it! I'm working on several novels, but have trouble getting into them sometimes because a little voice inside me says, "Why are you writing this? You're horrible!"

Such is the trade, I guess!

I know the feeling

Devil Ledbetter said:

KTC, just be glad my mother isn't reading it.

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I usually let my mother read my stuff after I am done making it look good. It usually comes back with red, blue and black ink all over the place. And I hate it when she is right!

After many decades of editing for others, you would think she would be tired of it by now and would leave mine alone.

She even corrects my Christmas wish list. I didn't know fancy dance hall girls was spelled W*I*F*E.

I can tell you that it is without question the best novel you have written.

It never stops. Really. That's what makes you all good writers - your prose oozes angst (oh I like the sound of that!).
I'm sure there are some authors that are impervious to these feelings but I have yet to meet them.
What I know? Each previous novel is necessary for a writer's improvement--
FYI
I'll wake up at 2 am in a sweat wondering if it's all been a dream.
That's why I keep a copy of LOTTERY next to my bed.
Oh and yeah, and at some point all of you will find out I'm a fraud.

I guess I am not troubled by all this angst. I have limited expectations. I just want to tell a good story, I am not trying to write great literature. At the end of the day, I think, "Would this be a good book to read sitting by the pool on your vacation?" If it is interesting and entertaining, and maybe teaches a little bit, then I have succeeded.

I could go to the library and pull you out hundreds and hundreds of books that are better than mine. An aspiration to be as good as those writers is not my goal. I might get there if I spend the next twenty or thirty years writing, but I doubt it.

I can also go to the library and pull out a bunch of books and say, "My book is as entertaining as these."

Then there are the few, the very few books I can get at the library that I can point to and say, "My book is better than these."

Those are the books that keep me writing.

I think that's a commendable attitude. Prawn. In my case it's not competition so much as it's the realization that luck and being in the right place at the right time play such a huge part in this process.