Trust the Process

Self doubt is often our middle name as writers. It’s something I myself struggle with more times than not. It’s destructive to our writing process and hinders our ability to write.

But too often we feel like helpless victims to it. We let ourselves believe everything our self doubt tells us and soon… we’re not writing at all.

This is how writers experience writer’s block, procrastination, and burn out. This is how we end up taking years to finish a project that should have only taken months. This is how that story we thought we loved so much. Never. Gets. Finished.

How can we push past this problem?

How can we believe our words matter when our inner critic says they’re trash?

How can we find the courage to finish our novel when we’ve lost confidence in ourselves?

The answer is actually quite simple: trust the process.

Sometimes we become so zeroed focus on the stage we’re in whether that’s brainstorming, outlining, or writing that we forget to zoom out. Take a look at the big picture—and trust the process.

Throughout each step of writing a novel, no matter what that process looks like for you, you’re going to have doubts. We all do!

In the brainstorming stage: is this new idea even worth pursuing? What if it’s not exciting enough?

In the outlining stage: does this scene matter to the overall story of the book? What if I can’t craft a deep enough story?

In the writing stage: am I using the right words to portray my thoughts? What if they fall flat and sound bland?

We won’t even go into the editing stage…

Do you get my point? These are just a few of the many, many doubts writers experience. Sometimes we feel swamped by them.

That’s when I want you to zoom out and take a step back. Look at all you’ve accomplished. See how far you’ve come.

And trust the process.

Sometimes that’s all you can do. Because if you let your self doubts take over then you derail your train to progress. You have to press on and keep going—no matter what. Because even a slow moving train will eventually reach his destination, as long as he doesn’t give up.

Your turn!

Do you ever get so caught up in the certain stage you are in that you forget to zoom out and see the big picture? Do you trust the process or your self-doubts? What do you do when you feel swamped by all the many questions of indecision in your head?

Blessings, Allyson

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