Recognize and Weed Out Self Doubt to Reach Your Goals

Self doubt can creep into your psyche without you even suspecting it’s there until the first niggling thought makes itself clear.

This happens to writers all the time.

If you're a writer, you must constantly be aware of your thoughts and how you’re reacting to them, so you can weed out thoughts of self-doubt before they grow and take over your creativity and destroy your goals.

Doubts can run wild in your mind, making you question your abilities about anything new or different.

If you’re prepared, you can recognize the doubts for the untrue limiting beliefs they are and let your knowledge and common sense get you through.

When you check in to reality, you’ll realize that the negative thoughts are occurring for various reasons.

For example, you could be lost in comparing yourself with other writers.

This may make you feel inadequate and doubt your ability to succeed.

Make a firm decision and stick to it.

When self doubt about what you’re trying to accomplish creeps into your thoughts, make a decision to either carry through with your goal or trash it and go on with something else you’re more certain of.

If you do decide to go on to something else, don’t think of it as a failure.

It was a learning experience that taught you a lesson and you aren’t wasting any more time on it.

If you decide to go through with the plan, take action immediately.

Making a fast decision may seem impulsive, but most likely the decision is based on intuition and the knowledge that you’ve prepared enough for the journey ahead.

You can always fine tune your plan as you progress.

At least you’re taking action toward your goals.

Replace negative self doubt with positive thoughts. Choose any method that works for you. Meditation, journaling, affirmations, listening to music or reading a good book or simply chatting with positive-minded friends may give you the boost you need to move on.

All of us find ourselves dealing with self doubt at some point in our writing careers.

But if you let self doubt get the best of you, by feeding into it and actually believing the untrue stories you’re telling yourself, it can destroy even the best of intentions for success.

Learn to recognize and weed out the crippling, negative thoughts and get on with achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Begin by becoming aware of your thoughts – check in with them a few times a day.

You’ll soon be able to discern the “keeper” thoughts from the “discard” pile.

Try it!

As the Working Writer's Coach, Suzanne Lieurance helps people turn their passion for writing into a lucrative career.

She is founder and Director of the Working Writer's Club (membership is free) and offers tips, articles, and additional resources to other writers every weekday morning in The Morning Nudge (which is also free).

Write a Children’s Book in 14 Days!

Is it possible? Can you do it?

This summer, I bought the software program, How to Write a Children’s Book in 14 Days (or Less!) by Mel McIntyre.  I imagine that many aspiring writers have done the same thing, but how many actually go through each lesson and complete them all -- in two weeks? It’s not easy! It’s very important to set aside time each day during those two weeks. Otherwise, you might not be able to complete the program in the allotted time.

I also am a member of the Working Writers Club and took this class with Suzanne Lieurance.  Suzanne was our coach during the 14 days.  After we registered, she sent us a syllabus and schedule. This was a serious undertaking!

Suzanne also instructed us to read the entire textbook prior to the start of the class. I read most of it. Hmmm . . . there’s that time thing again! However, I did get a good understanding of what to expect during the two weeks.

Suzanne recommended we do some additional reading before we began the class. In the text, Mel gave examples of children’s books. I went to the library and checked out several of the titles she mentioned and read them. I got a better idea of how children’s books are written.

Last year, I started an idea notebook and file for the books I want to write, so I already had something in mind before the class.  I thought it would make the project easier. (I did say this wasn’t easy, didn’t I?)

During the two weeks, Suzanne, my classmates and I, had daily conference calls to discuss assignments, problems, etc.  I was able to participate in most of those calls. There is that time thing again! While the calls were recorded and could be listened to at a more convenient hour, I felt it was important to be there “live.” Luckily, I did not have many appointments or meetings scheduled for those two weeks. On the days that I was not available, I listened to most of the recordings. I think I missed one or two.

I enjoyed using the software program, being part of a class, and Suzanne’s coaching. I got alot out of the experience. But I also hit writers block after one week! My brain did not want to cooperate anymore. I found it difficult to do the daily assignments, but I did what I could.

I’ve been giving my brain a rest and I plan to tackle the program on my own next month.  I will try to complete it in four weeks. This will allow me extra time for the other things that happen in my life, yet gives me a calendar goal to reach.  

I would like to fully utilize what I learned from Mel and Suzanne. Hopefully, a second go-around will improve my writing and my manuscript will be that much closer to being submitted and published.

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is currently working on her first children’s book.

Engage in Social Networking the Twitter Way by Donna McDine

Engage in Social Networking the Twitter Way

By Donna McDine

To be an effective social networker/marketer setting up your profile is the first step, but it goes far beyond the setup. The saying from the Field of Dreams movie… “Build it and they will come” will not work in this instance. You must continually develop online relationships and share relevant information from your expertise. Like your website and blog, social networking is a constant work-in-progress. Don’t let your shoulders sag, engagement does not need to take you endless hours every day.

Today I will focus on….

How to strengthen your Twitter participation:

To be an effective member of the Twitter community you need to tweet on a consistent basis. Note tweets are limited to 140 characters including spaces and the URL you are directing the reader to. Your tweets can be just about anything. Such as, your latest book, your newsletter, book reviews, author interviews, and information you find interesting to the freelance writing career, etc. My rule of thumb is to tweet at least 4-5 times per day, Monday thru Friday. I give myself off the weekends for good behavior.

Use www.tinyurl.com to shorten the length of the URL you are providing in your tweet, so you save valuable characters for your message.

Don’t just tweet about yourself. Avoid the “it’s all about me attitude”, become a master communicator with tweeting a combination of your own tweets with those of colleagues.

Take out ten to fifteen minutes per day and visit Twitter and retweet (RT) posts of interest for those you are following. You’ll be amazed how appreciative tweeters are for RT. It is a terrific way to broaden the contact base for all those participating.

Scheduling Your Tweets Ahead of Time: Save valuable time and plan your tweets ahead of time (at least weekly). Create your tweets in Word and double check the character length by highlighting your tweet, clicking Review in the toolbar and to the right of Translate on the far left click the ABC/123 symbol. A pop-up screen will appear providing full statistics and make note of the Characters (with spaces) number. To set-up and schedule your tweets, I recommend www.dynamictweets.com. Once you register an account you will be able to schedule a one-time tweet or tweets you’d like to repeat throughout a specific timeframe. The template/site is simple to use. 

Tweeting Lingo and What It Means for Your Tweeting Experience:

# - hashtag – by searching for a keyword with the # (hashtag) before it will pull you up a list of the latest tweets regarding the topic. This is a great way to get in specific conversations and tweeter parties.

@ - symbol before username – by searching for a particular username the results provides their tweets and mentions by fellow tweeters.

Direct Messages – by clicking on the “head” image the pull down menu will appear. Click on direct messages, here you will find a listing of all messages sent to you by fellow tweeters.

For more lingo details visit: https://support.twitter.com/articles/166337-the-twitter-glossary

Remember, tackle your social networking campaign with baby steps every day for each step will develop into a quantum leap.

If you require further guidance or have additional questions, please free to contact me at donna@donnamcdine.com. As a PR Publicist I offer an array of services and FREE articles to help you FREE up your valuable writing time, visit www.authorprservices.com for details.

Thank you for joining me today, it’s been a pleasure.

Bio: I am an award-winning children's author, Honorable Mention in the 77th and two Honorable Mentions in the 78^th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competitions,  Literary Classics Silver Award & Seal of Approval Recipient Picture Book Early Reader, Global eBook Awards Finalist Children’s Picture Book Fiction, and Preditors & Editors Readers Poll 2010 Top Ten Children’s Books ~ The Golden Pathway.

I have three more books under contract with Guardian Angel Publishing, Hockey Agony, Powder Monkey, and A Sandy Grave. I write, moms and am the Editor-in-Chief for Guardian Angel Kids, Publicist for the Working Writer’s Club, and owner of Author PR Services from my home in the historical hamlet Tappan, NY.