How to overcome this feeling?

I think we all feel like this at times - and not just writers and other artists. Anyone dedicated to excellence in their efforts goes though a period of questioning. The idea that we can step back from our work and evaluate it can prove to be a good thing. I have found that these times, can lead to our most important epiphanies.

I'd say first, do not put yourself down for having these feelings. They are real and they are valid. But, recognize that this is not your normal and it is not the end of your story. It is a bump in the road. Getting through it is different for everyone. When this happens to me, I stop writing for a few days and try something else...painting, poetry, gardening. I find getting into nature is restorative to my soul. Sunlight on my face and dirt in my hands never fails to boost my mood.

Find an alternate outlet for your self-expression and give yourself a pat on the back. Not only for working through your feeling but for having the courage to share them with others. Best wishes to you.

I don't think it's really my problem if I'm good enough or if it's good enough, my problem is just to get it done (which is enough of a problem half the time!) And if you really aren't good enough, the only way to get good enough is to keep on with it anyway so there again, in reality, isn't it a moot point. Yet, one must have faith to keep bothering with this insanity.

What really helped my confidence was flash fiction as I'm sure everyone is quite tired of hearing about daily haha. But really, it takes hours rather than months to finish a piece and there are zillions of places to send flash pieces to (if anyone doesn't know, just google The Submission Grinder and look around). Getting a few credits, even if easier to get, no-pay ones is solid proof that you're doing okay. ANY place that accepts submissions is likely to be deluged with them so any and all credits are definitely evidence that someone who sees a lot of writing liked yours and picked it over others. You can even google "twitter fiction" and get one damn sentence published. Then print it out in giant letters and stick it on the wall over your writing desk with "Woo Hoo!" written on it lol. A few small successes can be proof to you that yes, this is a real goal rather than a pipe dream and yes, you can do it.

Another idea is to use a pen name, especially if you plan to use one anyway. If/when you get anything published under it, don't tell anyone. Then if you later really believe everyone is laughing at your early published work, you can just start over with a different pen name.

Or try deliberately writing something that's as idiotic and horrible as possible. Include every single writing no-no you can think of. Write the worst thing ever written and see what happens. Make it ludicrously, spectacularly awful. Who knows, maybe then you'll see that it's all okay. I don't know about you but if I wasn't writing I'd probably just be watching TV so who cares if it's "wasted" time. (Also, I've come to realize that all that "wasted time" was really "learning the craft"). Good luck!

Aww. I think all of us have gone through something like this.

If you're truly burned out, maybe you need a break. There was a point that I had to take a month off.

But it sounds to me that fear is the culprit instead of fatigue. Are you still on a first draft? If your slightly farther, and brave enough, you can have someone yoy trust read it (even just a chapter) to convince you you don't suck. If this sounds too scary for you, then maybe it's not a good idea. I'm a graphic design student, so whenever I feel like one my designs is awful, I show people so I can get advice on how to fix it, or just validation that it's not as bad as I think it is. Though I know that writing is slightly more complicated than that.

Honestly, I'm not a good judge at my writing. I know I'm decent at it, and yeah there are some scenes where everything goes right, but I would say a good chunk of the time I'm like "Lalalala this probably sucks, but let's keep writing and fix it later." I've also found it helps to write notes at the top of the chapter like "forgot to do x. This part doesn't have enough detail. This scene dragged while writing." It gives me permission to keep going and deal with that stuff later.

I will say though that I do small edits because of this. After say, five chapters, I print, do a read through, then one fixer up. Usually the stuff doesn't suck as much as thought, and doing one quick fix will keep me from going crazy with worry. But if you do something like this, don't dwell on it, and once you correct a chapter, that's it. Don't go back.

I hope you can get through this! You can do it!

My usual treatment for that feeling is to switch to reading for a while. I get a big pile of books and spend every spare moment stuffing them into my brain until I start having pleasant thoughts about writing again.

Here's my thoughts:

Writing is one of those arts that the materials used, like paper and ink, are extremely cheap that there's no use in not scrapping and trying again for something better. With electronics today, it's pennies for electricity. The point is: Writing can be changed, easily, for cheap. It's not that your writing can't improve, but I think you believe you can't improve it. Maybe because you don't know how. Reading and critiquing helps with this. Breaking down working writing, or non-working writing, can help guide you to what works and how to tell it.

By knowing what works and what doesn't you'll be able to write in a way that even the most absurd ideas can be believable. Storytellers are magicians; we hide the wires and mirrors because we know how the reader will see what we do. It doesn't have to be perfectly believable, but only for a moment.

I highly suggest you check out the Share Your Work section. Critiquing work there, and reading the critiques that are posted, can greatly improve your understanding of writing. By deepening your understanding you'll grow more confident in yourself. And at some point you can post your own work and see areas where you can improve.

Also, if it causes so much stress, I would forget the reader. Forget them, forget publishing. Write the story you wish to read. For you, not anyone else. Be as selfish as possible. There's nothing to fear when you're writing for yourself; no one can read it if you don't want them to. Then, when you start revising, edit for the reader. Edit for clarity and focus on getting the story across.

Kerosene said:

Also, if it causes so much stress, I would forget the reader. Forget them, forget publishing. Write the story you wish to read. For you, not anyone else. Be as selfish as possible. There's nothing to fear when you're writing for yourself; no one can read it if you don't want them to. Then, when you start revising, edit for the reader. Edit for clarity and focus on getting the story across.

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I second this.

Clearly the problem is your inner voice. You've got to stop telling yourself that you can't.

Personally, I don't have this problem because I only write in bursts of inspiration (but I'm easily inspired, I guess, so there's that). I do know the feeling of being burnt out, though. If you're feeling like you have to force the words out or if you're not satisfied with what you're writing, I'd suggest taking a break and generally doing other things that inspire you. Maybe it's music? Maybe it's movies, or maybe it's other books. Or something completely different. It usually helps to be in the right mood before you try writing, and then it'll come more easily, perhaps.

You can't achieve your goals until you change your perspective. Every writer started where we are. In front of a blank page/document and nothing to go on. All put out bad sentences. But they succeeded. Which means you can succeed. You need to be persistent. I'd expand more but this sugar rush has disabled thinking.

This sounds a lot like what I went through with my last WIP. Right me if I'm wrong, but it kind of sounds like you're focusing so hard on getting published that you're forgetting WHY you wanna get published at all. Try to go back to the source: why did you start writing at all? What was it you loved about your WIP, why did you start writing it? Can you return to that, and just... forget all of the pressure you've put on yourself recently?

In my case, I got so caugh up in trying to do the right thing, follow all the rules, please every critic, that I ended up hating the story I was working on. And to me, the solution was actually... starting over. I started a completely new project, where I decided to just not give a shit about any of the rules. Who cares if it sucks, I just wanted to write again, without feeling like everything I created was worthless. And it worked.

Now, everybody's different. Maybe you don't have any side-projects you can try, or maybe you decide that yes, you DO still love your current work and you want to finish it. But try to let go of all the have to's, all the demands. Get angry if you have to. Give the dark thoughts inside your head a big middle finger and write as if you don't give a shit. Because in the end, the only one who actually makes the rules is YOU.

I would say taking a small break would be good. Just don't walk away from it. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and picky and I have very low self esteem that I think nothing I write is good enough, but I still do it because it's something that makes me happy. If this is making you feel horrible while working on your WIP then maybe a small break is what you need. Please don't ever give up or let your inner voice win. I did for a few years and never wrote a thing. It was the worst years of my life. I was angry and depressed all the time and couldn't get better. Then, one day I wrote a small story, like a few paragraphs and instantly I remembered why I write. I told myself never to leave writing go for years again. Maybe a few weeks, but I always come back.

You sound like you need a break, but I don't know if I would personally recommend that just because when I take a break, I take a very long break and then I feel guilty that I wasted so much time. I would, however, recommend that you set up a schedule that includes not only sitting down to write but also make time for your other interests and hobbies (if you aren't already, iono). Writers need to be in situations where they can observe reality to write fantas~tically.

*cough


Anyway, maybe if you are feeling ignorant and unable to structure a sentence, you should make these into your goals first. I think I also had this idea that this process would be so linear, that I would write, query, then publish but I'm finding that it is definitely not the case. I'm not even entertaining ideas of publishing anymore. I'm just currently focused in getting my story down right.

If you feel you don't understand enough of how the world works in order to write believably, go out and get involved with the world. Even if it's just going to the park and watching people. Experience life and it will give you fodder. Also, read, read, read. Anything and everything. Fiction and non-fiction. You will also learn about all kinds of stuff through reading, of which you can apply to your writing.