Doubts when writing a novel

[EimonQ]

Have you ever doubted your writing skills? And if so, what do you do to deal with it?

I read them.

 

[APieceOfRock]

Yes. When in doubt, write more.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Absolutely. Just keep writing and learning as you go. If your skills aren't good enough now, you should learn enough to make it good in the future.

 

[Horny_Gentleman]

Have you ever doubted your writing skills? And if so, what do you do to deal with it?

I read them.

Quite a lot of times but whenever something like that happened I just read the story I wrote from the start. When you read what you wrote as a reader instead of a writer you get the answer to what you're looking for.

 

[Corty]

I did. Multiple times. I just keep writing. Fixing mistakes when I am being pointed out. I write because I enjoy the creative process.

I heed all the tips and advice if they are given with a certain decorum and explanation behind them. That way, the times I doubted my talent decreased immensely.

I ignore the rest and the negative stuff. Especially if it is backed by something like: "I don't like the way-" and similar reasons. Personal reasons, opinions, and points of criticism related to that I tend to ignore because those have nothing to do with writing but with taste. Not liking it is not the same as making mistakes.

Tl;dr

I live by the wise words of manslayer: "When in doubt, whip it out"

 

[DeviousColony69]

Have you ever doubted your writing skills? And if so, what do you do to deal with it?

I read them.

When in doubt, I just sit in front of my screen, then cry a lot

 

[Jailbreak571]

...
Yes.

I stop, then wait, then write. Simple.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

I doubt my writing skills like I doubt my life....







Pretty much everyday.

 

[LilRora]

I very often doubt my writing skills, and in vary many areas. I fairly regularly either re-read something that inspired me to write a story or read a work of an author I didn't know before and just can't help but notice a multitude of tiny things they did better than me. At least in my opinion at that time.

It can get me down for a long while, but I generally keep writing and learn a lot from such situations.

 

[doravg]

Yes. Does that matter? No.

I write every day, I don't doubt shit during the writing process.

But, once I see that I have to make a book free, then I do doubt. What if it is not good enough to have people spend money on it? What could I have done differently? Why is nobody giving me reviews? Did they even finish the novel to the end?

I have many other doubts, but they are silent when I write. I am thankful for that.

 

[Empyrea]

Of course, but I just fix anything pointed out. I stressed a lot in the first couple months and then realized anything I put out isn't permanently bad unless I drop it. I don't plan on doing that, so even my older chapters are just a work in progress.

 

[KrakenRiderEmma]

Doubting your writing skills is a sign that you're getting better at reading, and your reading skill, taste and understanding of what makes for good writing has outstripped your writing skill. When you keep at it and your writing improves, then you'll be at the other "art high" part of the cycle. Here's a little chart that shows the same thing with drawing / illustrating but it's true for literally every creative activity, because one side (making things) tends to make you see quality differences a little better (understanding things) and vice versa... well, unless you give up! Don't give up.

http://imgur.com/3SaoY4G

 

[J_Chemist]

Yes.

I rewrote the first half of my story because of it. I'm still unsatisfied but it is what it is.

 

[foxes]

It is inevitable, even without inadequate critics. So many things in the aftermath arise when there are gaps in the story that you miss in the rush of writing down the first ideas. But I just write different little stories, not even related to the main idea. They push for additional details that, when put together, flesh out the main story with more meaning. Well, there's also a bunch of mistakes that you can fix with online tools. You can also paraphrase paragraphs and get interesting and appropriate choices.

And you can also just read other people's work to quietly gloat and realize that you're not doing so badly, or to take an example from more successful works. Reading also gives you your own ideas for developing an already written but unknown story, it also keeps you coming back to your writing.

But it's all individual.

 

[K5Rakitan]

 

[LunaSoltaer]

I currently have one book with something absurd like a 20% drop rate. (sure i only have 5 drops, but thats a really big deal when you only have 20 readers, and only 5 or so of them are still active meaning its closer to a 50% drop rate.)

[EDIT: 4. I only have 4 drops. I dont know how i hallucinated a fifth. shush.]

Now part of it may be that I legitimately dropped the book for a year, but three of those drops occurred when I picked it back up. Another part is I was very preemptively self defencive when I started because I did things like gave a genocidal antagonist some actual positive traits, have a trans character not have a happy magical escapist transition in a setting that has magic, and start the book as a NaNoWriMo exercise which is to say I didnt flesh out the world, the cultures at play or anything else remotely as well as I should have. Or, you know, find a beta reader to help bounce my ideas off of.

The fact remains that my book has a criminally high percentage of people who noped out of it, and that percentage causes me to this day many moments of anxiety.

I notice errors and problems in my early works, and I check my writing against writing that markets really well and sometimes I feel just entranced, swept off my feet, wishing that I could do that to even just myself...

and sometimes, I feel my writing has some qualities that are straight up better. It's really confusing when you feel both that your writing sucks and that you deserve more dopamine numbers. I hate it and I wish I could be literally anything other than a human for that reason.

But I have literally no current validation, and I get it. IRL took me out for more than a year so people got dejected and won't likely be looking at it. It's really my own fault that 2022 fucked me over. I should be self sufficient, I shouldn't need other people, hell, strictly speaking I DON'T...

But the self doubt and self hate remain, powerful as always, and with no sign of slowing down.

I have even flirted with the idea of trashing my book. But then... Then I will be at the position of not having completed anything, and my advice to everyone else to write whats true to them would ring a hypocritical hollow.

I can not live with that for myself. So I press on.

I am worried about my skill level legitimately, but I don't want to engage free feedback before I get even remotely a solid community again because if the free review turns out bad (I estimate it will at p=0.8), then I don't know what will happen to me. As much as I give words of encouragement to others, I'm saying them to myself just as much.

But I keep writing, and I encourage people around me, starting new series, to keep it up. People need to know where their stories suck, sure, so they can improve, but they need an idea of where their strengths lie. That way they can play to their strengths, and develop a mental T-pose from there and take the W with Style.

 

[RynnTheTired]

All. The. Time.

With pretty much every chapter I post, I have a mini panic attack afterwards, worrying about how bad it is and how much everybody is going to hate it and how, even if they don't hate it, now I have to write the next chapter, and that one will probably be terrible, and everybody is going to hate it....

Nevermind that nobody's ever actually told me they hated my writing. Writing insecurity doesn't care about things like facts, silly.

Here are a few things I try to keep in mind:

1. In order to get really good at writing, you have to write a lot. Reading and studying theory can help some, but there's no substitute for actual practice. So if you stop because it isn't good, it won't ever get good.
2. Focus on improving your writing ability, rather than worrying about the quality of each individual piece of writing you produce. Your ability to create is more valuable than the creations themselves.
3. If you go back and read something you wrote a few months ago and notice problems you didn't see before, that's actually a good sign (even if it feels painful...). It means your skills are improving.
4. We're writing webnovels here, not competing for a Nobel Prize in Literature. I've read plenty of webnovels that weren't particularly well-written but were still fun to read. As long as it's good enough for somebody to enjoy (and you as the author count as somebody!), it's good enough.

 

[melchi]

My writing skills are poop. I try to just write anyway.

I've never actually considered drop rate. I think it is around 10% for the ongoing one. I guess unless I was writing a choose your own adventure where readers vote on what happens next it doesn't seem helpful.

My goal is to just try to be clear. I figure as long as I don't get comments saying "I have no idea what is going on anymore" then I'm not messing up and hitting my goal. (Yay for low standards!)