How did you get over your writing insecurities?

[MegaJon]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Just to make sure the horse is dead, this article gets to the point of what I was talking about.

http://www.scriptmag.com/features/sc...tragedy-of-all

[The Road Warrior]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Mostly, I climb over them...

if they're really really big, I bring a safety rope.

[MegaJon]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

It's hard to imagine someone having nothing but overwhelming confidence in their work, no matter how good they are.

This is not what is being said.

Everyone who is serious about writing knows that what they write is not perfect and no author is ever happy with what he has written after he is done. As soon as he starts a re-read there is suddenly a word that must be changed, a character that needs a new name, a chapter that needs to be added or removed, a neat new way to tie something togethter, etc.

The distance between insecurity and overwhelming confidence is huge.

An insecure writer who won't share his work will not sell. A confident writer will. The confidence is not based on the idea that his writing is incredible, it's based on the idea that it's worth reading.

If you, as the writer, have taken the time to write it and polish it, you feel the answer to that question is yes. If I've taken three months (or three years) to write this thing, I care about it and I want to make it the best it can possibly be. I want FEEDBACK from the people I think should be investing their lives in reading it. I'm not being overconfident when I say, "I just wrote this and think it's a great story that you'll enjoy. Please read it and tell me your thoughts." I want to know what works and what doesn't and I'm giving it to them so they can tell me what I can't see.

When the notes come back I will find out where I've clearly expressed my vision and where I haven't. I can find out if my vision is even worth expressing. I will have shared my story with someone. And that's why I set out to write in the first place, wasn't it? To tell the story?

There's a scene in The Committments where a young man wants to audition for the band. He's asked to sing in a busy alley. He won't do it. Only wants to come inside and sing in private. He's sent on his way. He was not cut out to be the front man of a blues band in Ireland. If he can't sing in a back alley, how is he supposed to dance around on stage in front of a crowd? He may have had the talent to sing, but he wasn't a singer. That role called for someone who thought people should listen to him.

You may think that I am overconfident but clearly I disagree. What I know is that I can write - I edit a lot of writing and it isn't arrogant to say that my skill is better (not perfect) than most of what comes across my desk, it's why I'm in that position. What I don't know is whether or not I am I able to craft and tell a compelling story at the professional level. So far I haven't had a great deal of commercial success but if you are still reading this post than I must have some skill or you would have moved on. Maybe it is that confidence, in my technical ability, that lets me take the creative criticism and chanel it completely into editing and rewrites or maybe it's just something wrong with my brain. I just know that the only way I can improve is by sharing what I do with others and listening for the truth in their replies.

Jon

[MAOshea]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

It's hard to imagine someone having nothing but overwhelming confidence in their work, no matter how good they are. Unless you're Aaron Sorkin and have years of accolades thrown your way in a career that spans decades, self-doubt seems like a necessary part of the process.

I can't speak for everyone, but in my experience, I've noticed that the most headstrong of writers were either a) blind to their own flaws or b) not taking enough bold risks with their work.

Personally, I can say that my best work is often the material I fret over and doubt the most. I always attempt to challenge and write at the edge of my ability or beyond. I figure that's how I'll learn new things and grow.

That said, it's way too easy to become trapped by ones' insecurities and never share anything with anyone.

For what it's worth, Liv, this is my process:

For anything I write, I have three tiers of readers. I send my work to each of them in sequence, with a round of rewrites between each distribution:

Tier 1 = The ego-boosters: This group includes my wife and a couple other friends who are maybe a little too enamored with everything I write.

I go to these folks first for two reasons. First, after spending X amount of time writing my butt off, it's just refreshing to get positive feedback, even if it's not particularly reliable. Also, these folks are the first line of defense against the big ugly flaws in the script. If the folks who love everything are saying there's a problem... 9 times out of 10, there's a problem.

Now, as nice as the ego boosters are... I pretty much disregard them. I'm interested in the


Tier 2 = The tough-love friends: These are the people who will give me the honest truth about the problems in my script. This group includes some of the smartest and most critical folks I know. Some are fellow writers, others are development assistants or jr. execs. All of them know what they're talking about and I tell them to be absolutely merciless with their feedback. I don't want these folks to pull any punches.

Important note - This group consists only of people who I've built a long, established relationship with. That way, even if they have to tell me my script sucks (and they have), they still know me well enough to know that I can do much better work. They'll continue to be eager to read what I've written even if the last thing they read wasn't so hot.


Tier 3 = The big scary world: These are folks who are reading me for the first time. This group includes potential buyers, reps, or simply new contacts that I'm building a relationship with. By the time I'm sending anything out to these folks, my script has already been read quite a bit. I know the strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately it's something I'm proud of. Do I still get a nervous feeling when I hit "Send"? Absolutely! But, often enough, that anxiety is quelled when these new readers react positively to my material.

Over time, hearing positive feedback from people who know what they're talking about builds lasting confidence... something to refer back to when you're feeling that self-doubt slip in again.

In the end, surprising others with your ability and surprising yourself along the way can be half the fun of it all... At least in my opinion.

Hope you find that helpful.

[dgl]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

If you have no insecurities as a writer, you're doing something wrong. A healthy amount of fear and self-loathing will keep you honest.

[MacGuffin]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

The act of writing cures my insecurities. And then, the act of rewriting. Self doubt is the best way to stop writing. Just let yourself write what is there, waiting to be rewritten. Then, rewrite it and make it better.

[MegaJon]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Insecurity? I may be weird but, even without a lot of success, I've never been insecure about my writing. I write because I want to.

What I write isn't me. If it's a piece I care about, I seek feedback. That criticism helps me to make it BETTER. My goal. I know it isn't perfect. If I come back to something I've written a month later I can see everything wrong with it...

That isn't criticism of me as a person, it's what's wrong with what I crafted. Burning the lasagna make me bad person, it just means that we're ordering out for dinner - or that I need to PRACTICE more. If I care about being able to make good lasagna, I'll listen to the advice and work on it.

[Juno Styles]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

You know; the fear of having others read your work. That nagging voice in the back of your mind that says "your no good at this" or "your going to fall flat on your face like every other Hollywood hack". The doubts about your future as a writer, and the worries over what people will think of you when you say "I'm a screenwriter!" (even though you've technically never sold anything). Most of all, the fear that you're blind to the fact that your script, well, isn't as good as you think it is. That it may suck actually

How did you overcome these fears?

I read the 5 powerful tips to jumpstart my screenwriting career being discussed in the business and advice section.

But seriously, having a professional working writer give me feedback whether it be good or bad and just being able to be objective with my own work helped me to develop thick skin.

Personally I've never had those thoughts you mention, that sh*t actually sounds pretty dangerous to be thinking. I can't afford to have those kind of poisonus thoughts running around in my head, there's too many other things to worry about. I've always gone in this knowing it's a craft and I can only get better.

[CColoredClown]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Stop overthinking and write. No brain, no headache.

[EdFury]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

You know; the fear of having others read your work. That nagging voice in the back of your mind that says "your no good at this" or "your going to fall flat on your face like every other Hollywood hack". The doubts about your future as a writer, and the worries over what people will think of you when you say "I'm a screenwriter!" (even though you've technically never sold anything). Most of all, the fear that you're blind to the fact that your script, well, isn't as good as you think it is. That it may suck actually

How did you overcome these fears?

Who said I was over them?

[jonpiper]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

At one time I was insecure about my writing. I read and wrote, read and wrote. Insecure as I was, I Posted pages in the Forum and received some positive feedback as well as thoughtful notes, notes that I understood. The feedback and notes told me I was on the right track, so I said to myself, "you have SOME talent, which strangers recognize, and if you work at this you can write a good screenplay, maybe not a great one, but a good one. Then if you really concentrate and work hard you may even write a pro level screenplay, maybe even a great pro level screenplay."

Now that I'm over my insecurities, I need to settle down and concentrate on the task of writing that good screenplay. To the OP: procrastination is more harmeful than insecurity.

[Jeff_Shurtleff]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Convince yourself you're a genius and the best writer in the world...

"It's not a lie... if you believe it"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_PSJsl0LQ

George Costanza.

Jeff Shurtleff

[sc111]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

In my opinion, writers sometimes overthink. Often (not always) when I have to get something done without much time, those are the stories that people seem to like the most.

If I have time to go over it and over it, I tend to blanderize it, while I'm convincing myself that I'm polishing it. If I have even more time, I'll look at what I "polished" and what I wrote originally and realize the first draft was much better.

I was answering the OP in the context of how to get over insecurities. If someone's inner voice is constantly saying, (as the young, 17 year old OP states), "You're no good at this," it can have a paralyzing effect.

Other writers, like yourself, by virtue of their personality, may never have these thoughts and cannot understand the difficulty in overcoming them.

Your point about "blanderizing" (cool word) is a related issue which can also benefit from objectivity. If you're polishing a piece and can objectively see you're not making it any better, then leave it alone. Either way, objectivity is a good skill for a writer to develop.

[StoryWriter]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

Read your own work as if you're reading the work of a stranger and correct, rewrite, kill your darlings and approve as required. It takes a while to get to that state of objectivity but it's worth working on getting there.

In my opinion, writers sometimes overthink. Often (not always) when I have to get something done without much time, those are the stories that people seem to like the most.

If I have time to go over it and over it, I tend to blanderize it, while I'm convincing myself that I'm polishing it. If I have even more time, I'll look at what I "polished" and what I wrote originally and realize the first draft was much better.

[sc111]

Re: How did you get over your writing insecurities?

I think if you can develop a sense of objectivity (as emotionless as possible) it can neutralize both insecurity and over confidence and you can maintain that Zen-like Golden Mean when it comes to your writing.

Read your own work as if you're reading the work of a stranger and correct, rewrite, kill your darlings and approve as required. It takes a while to get to that state of objectivity but it's worth working on getting there.

Don't ask yourself, "Is this good?" The idea of 'good' verses 'bad' starts to kick up emotions related to self worth.

Ask yourself, "Can this be better?" Then work on making it better.