This is a guest article by Christina Battons. If you want to submit a guest article of your own, be sure to read the guest article guidelines.
Do you remember the first book you ever read? Something a bit more complicated than your first alphabet or simple children’s poems?
Remember that feeling that you had right after that? You thought that when you grow up, you will write a book like that too, full of adventurers, knights, or heroes, danger, and victory. And you even tried to write that book to the delight of your family. You felt like a little genius back then.
You have grown so much since that time, and you might not be exactly writing books now, but whenever you start working on the essay or any other piece of writing, you feel insecure and cannot help it.
That is why we have decided to compose an article that will show you how you can gain confidence and realize that you are a good writer and can write anything you need without problems.
Practice more
If you dive into writing more often, you will grow as a writer. It is inevitable. You acquire new knowledge, you familiarize yourself with the style of other people you find interesting and engaging, and as a result, you grow professionally and feel more confident when it comes to composing your own piece.
Besides, you get to understand your most common mistakes and work on them, get feedback from other people including your peers and tutors – and all this combined contributes to your writing skills. Therefore, if you practice a little every day, you will feel better about your writing!
Participate in competitions
It is also a good idea to join some competitions. You do not necessarily have to win, but the fact that you entered the competition, demonstrated your abilities there and gained new valuable experience can be encouraging.
Therefore, you have a chance of entering a competition, go for it and enjoy the results this will bring!
Find a writing job
The fact that someone pays for writing is a fantastic opportunity to grow your confidence as a writer. All you need to do is start looking for a chance to work as a professional writer. Maybe you can start working on a local newspaper, craft essays for your fellow students or even work as a copywriter for some company.
You will see that when people trust you and seek your assistance when it comes to writing you feel a lot better about yourself. So, if you doubt your abilities, then finding a job in the field in question can be an awesome solution. Go for it and feel insecure no more!
Read more
It is essential to read different genres and books to be a better writer. However, some people get so focused on the writing that thy forget to read more and learn from others.
That is why, we recommend you to read newspapers, books, and blogs by talented writers to gain new experience. They can teach you how to write and show ways to look at things differently. So, do not lose a chance to learn from the best and dedicate time to thoughtful reading.
Seek feedback
You need to ask other people what they think about your writing. Your teachers can tell you what you are doing right and what should be improved. You can let you friends read your articles, and see what your parents think about it.
Ask them to be unbiased and honest with you, because only if they tell you what they think, you will be able to grow and improve the quality of writing.
Another idea of where you can find the feedback is a local newspaper. You can choose one of the articles you have, a short story or anything that goes well with the general idea of the newspaper – and see what they think about it.
Take a course
Another way to grow your confidence is to take a course where you can learn from the leading specialists of the niche. You can try short stories writing or blogging if you do not want to take courses that are focused on something you already know well.
But the fact that you finished the course, and got a certificate of completion will help you think better of your writing and enjoy the results.
All in all, you need to feel secure and confident about your skills. Otherwise, you will get stuck often and lose track of what you are doing. However, gain the experience, learn from the best and ask for feedback to get a chance to look at your writing differently.
If you have any other ideas on how to gain confidence about your writing skills, then please feel free to share with us in comments. We would love to hear what works for you personally!
About the author: Christina Battons is a blogger and web content writer who helps people and students succeed at writing, education, blogging, and more by sharing with them my knowledge. Currently, writing blog posts at Thriving Writer, and I am also an active guest writer at many websites. You can join me through Facebook or Twitter. I’ll be happy to hear you, just drop me a line!
I am very new at doing the actual writing thing, even though I’ve felt the pull for over twenty years.
This means that I have a literal mountain of ideas and nameless scenes waiting to be incorporated into some coherent stories.
I liked the article about Six ways to grow confidence as a writer, but there is one area which was missed when it comes to feedback and thats on-line writing groups.
I find that being in an on-line writers group has helped me in two areas.
The first is voice: that my suggestions on how to help others express/relate ideas has been met with general acceptance and sometimes enthusiasm.
The second is feedback: whether I am giving or receiving the feedback, you get the full range from super positive to overly negative. Being that it’s on-line you have no need to face the other person. This has allowed me (a frustrated introvert) the time to better process the information given, and realize that even a little negative feedback is needed to best address the hidden/underlying issues within my writing.