Case of the Doubts

In recently scanning Twitter during one of my zoning-out sessions while revising, I came across a Tweet that felt so much like I have the last year doing revisions for my agent. It simply said (and I’m sorry, I missed the author): Everyone who has worked on a novel has said, “I cannot do this.” 

Anyone who has revised a novel has said, “I cannot do this.”

Anyone who wants to write a novel has said, “I cannot do this.”

Anyone in the final edits of their novel they’ve read 566,903 times has said, “I cannot do this.”

Doubt seeps into my mind at times, or I feel like every page is a travesty and miscarriage of literacy today.

I suspect I am too hard on myself. I suspect many writers are.

Despite those niggling feelings of lack of self-worth, we must pen on. Keep writing. Revising. Reading. Do what you can with words and follow the path, slow or fast.

I suspect many writers know we are doing what we are meant to do…but carrying through the slow hours, days, weeks, months and years, it can be easy to lose focus and faith. It’s exactly what we need, though. And lies there - in our writing. The paragraphs we love, the sentences or characters. Find one aspect you love in the piece of work and grab on to it.

Just keep penning.

Happy Reading!

AM Peaslee