Author: Nicole Simms

Happy New Year! Wow, I can’t believe that it’s 2017 already. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, but now it is time to return to the hard work. A new year means a new start for your writing, and a new chance to fight Mr Self Doubt.

Over the years I have shared my advice on how you can beat Mr Self Doubt, but with a new year, it’s time for a little reminder. So, how can you beat Mr Self Doubt? I have listed five ways you can beat self-doubt this year:

• Make writing goals – writing goals can benefit writers. Last year I wrote a post about it titled ‘The Benefits of Writing Goals’. Writing goals can help to keep you motivated and focused on your writing projects. And when you’re more focused you have less time to listen to Mr Self Doubt. So set some goals for 2017, and if you need any ideas I have listed 15 resolutions for writers in my 2015 post titled ‘New Year’s Resolutions for Writers’. I have also created a list of my 2017 writing goals, which I hope I can do better with than I did with my 2016 writing goals.
• Take part in the Setting Self Doubt on Fire challenge – last year I wrote a post titled ‘The Setting Self Doubt on Fire Challenge’. In this post, I talked about how I had been suffering from self-doubt and how I wanted to fight back by doing the Setting Self Doubt on Fire Challenge. To take part in the challenge all you have to do is do something to beat Mr Self Doubt (e.g. submit a story) and share what you’ve done on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtags #settingselfdoubtonfire and #beatingselfdoubt.
• Do something that scares you – there are many things about writing that will scare you. It’s scary to submit your work, it’s scary to publish your work, it’s scary to read out your work, it’s scary to start writing, and it’s scary to join a writing group. So, whatever scares you, you need to do it. I did this last year when I had to read my work out in public (I talked about this in my ‘How to Prepare for a Book Reading Event’ post). It was terrifying to do, but I’m glad I did it.
• Make writing your priority – it’s easy to neglect your writing projects in favour of other tasks, especially when you lack self-belief, but you’ll never beat Mr Self Doubt if you don’t spend the time you need for your writing.
• Find ways to boost your self-confidence – you may remember that I wrote a post titled ‘How to Boost Your Self-Confidence’. The worst enemy of self-doubt is self-confidence, so finding ways to boost your self-confidence will help you to lock Mr Self Doubt away so you can continue on your writing journey without the negativity.

So there you have it, five ways to beat Mr Self Doubt in 2017, whichever way you choose to beat Mr Self Doubt I wish you all the best. Keep writing folks, and let’s make 2017 the year we finally take a stand.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” 
― Edith Lovejoy Pierce

 

Hello, everyone! I can’t believe NaNoEdMo and NaNoWriMo are over already. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I vowed to complete the third draft of my novel in November.

So, did I reach my NaNoEdMo goal? Well, I’m sad to say that I didn’t reach my goal. And even after changing my goal to a more realistic one (completing 50% of my novel), I still didn’t reach my goal. However, I did manage to edit 10% of my novel, which is nowhere near my goal, but it’s something.

There are two reasons why I didn’t reach my goal: firstly, I struggled to stay motivated and often found myself distracted my other tasks and projects, and secondly, my goal was too ambitious – doing the third draft of a novel takes more time than the second draft did.

Now, while I am disappointed that I didn’t reach any of my goals, I’ve decided to stop being so hard on myself because I did something which is better than doing nothing.  Every step forward is a step forward, no matter how small the step. In this writing game, you have to focus on the positives, even if the positives are small. For example, you receive nine rejections, but one acceptance, it’s the acceptance that you need to focus on because it’s the one yes that matters the most.

So if you’ve not reached your NaNoEdMo or NaNoWriMo goal, I want you all to stop being disappointed in what you haven’t done, and start celebrating what you have achieved. You may have only written 20,000 words, but that’s 20,000 more words than you had before. You may have only edited five chapters, but that’s still five more chapters than before.

I would like to congratulate those who have reached their NaNoEdMo and NaNoWriMo goals, and I would also like to congratulate those who didn’t reach their goals because you’ve all done well and no matter how small the achievement, you still have something to celebrate. Yay us!

So, turn that frown upside down and go celebrate because we are all NaNo winners.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.” ― Bruce Lee

Hello everyone! I’m back with some more self-doubt fighting words.

So, what do I have for you today? Well, it’s nearly November – I can’t believe it – and that can only mean one thing, it’s NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo time. For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During November, writers around the world pledge to write 50,000 words of their novel. It’s a great challenge, and I do recommend it for those who need motivating to start writing their novel.

I had originally planned to take part in NaNoWriMo this year; however, I have a novel that I haven’t edited since July. So instead of needing the motivation to write a novel, I need the motivation to edit a novel, so like last year, I will be taking part in NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) next month (the original month is March). And my goal for this year will be to finish my third draft and possibly start on my fourth.

You can find out more information about NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo on my ‘Get ready for NaNoEdMo’ post.

Again this year I will be inviting you all to join me on my novel editing quest. I’ve been unable to create a month long event like last year, but I have created a Facebook group called November 2016 – NaNoEdMo. You can find a link to the group via my Nicole J. Simms Facebook page.

Like last year, you will need a goal. Your goal could be anything from editing 50,000 words to finishing a certain draft stage. It doesn’t matter what you decide. What’s important is that you have a goal to work towards because it’s the goal that will help you to stay focused and motivated.

I will also be writing about my NaNoEdMo journey on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #NaNoEdMo. And I look forward to hearing about your NaNoEdMo and NaNoWriMo adventure.

So whether you decide to take part in NaNoWriMo or NaNoEdMo, I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope you all reach your goals. I know I hope I reach mine.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory” ― George S. Patton Jr.

Hi, everyone! I’m back with some more self-doubt fighting words.

So, what do I have for you today? Well, I will be talking about how you can prepare for a book reading event.

My writing group (Oldbury Writing Group) has just published our first anthology, which is titled From Sunrise to Sunset. The anthology is a collection of short stories and poems about the Second World War. And to help promote our book, we will be taking part in a World War Two event, and during this event, each member will be reading some of their World War Two stories and poems.

Now, this won’t be the first time that we have read out our work to an audience, but due to us being part of a bigger event, we could potentially be reading our stories and poems to the biggest audience we have ever had. Now, as a fellow self-doubter the thought of reading out my stories to a bigger audience than I have ever read out to before scares me.

I have mentioned before in my other post ‘Reading aloud to an audience’ that I’m not great when it comes to reading out my work. I read too quickly, I stutter, and I struggle to make myself heard. Like many self-doubters, the thought of having everyone’s attention fixed on me while they listen to my work fills me with dread – it’s the kind of thing that causes you to have nightmares.

However, even though I would like to pay someone to read out my stories and poems for me, I will not back down from this challenge. This event will be my way of tackling the read aloud challenge and the setting self-doubt on fire challenge. And even though I fear that the audience will boo me and tell me to step aside for a real talented writer, I have to do this. I have something to say, and only I can say it.

So, to give myself the best chance, I have come up with a plan. And this is what I will be sharing with you today.

My preparation plan for my book reading event:

1. Timing yourself – I have a 10-minute slot to read out a mixture of my poems and short stories. So to make sure I don’t go over, I have timed myself reading out each piece. And I have also found a useful website where you can see how long it should take to read out a certain number of words. This allows you to see if you are reading too quickly http://www.speechinminutes.com/
2. Practising in front of a mirror – this is a great way to see how you look while you are reading out your work. You can see if you look at the audience enough. You’ll also be able to spot your non-verbal communications, for example, if you look bored – a bored reader equals a bored audience.
3. Practising the tips I mentioned in my ‘Reading aloud to an audience’ post – those tips include breathing control, faking confidence, perfecting your performing voice, etc.
4. Practise reading aloud every day – we all know that the more you do something, the better you get at it. You’ll soon see that your confidence grows after each practice. Also, it gives you a chance to work out how your piece needs to be read, especially for a poem.
5. Positive thinking – sometimes the best thing you can do is to think positively. If you believe you will fail, you will. If you believe you will succeed, there’s a chance you might.

 

I won’t lie, even with all this preparation, I’m still incredibly nervous. I could still suck, but there’s a chance that I won’t. There’s a possibility that people will enjoy my story, and hey, I might even get a standing ovation (one can dream).  Either way I, or you, won’t know unless we try.

 

So fellow self-doubters, if you also have a book reading to prepare for, then remember these tips, and let’s set self-doubt on fire.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“Overcoming what frightens you the most strengthens you the most.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

Hi, All! I’m back.

Lately, I have been battling with self-doubt, which is mostly because of the constant rejections that I have had. As we all know, rejections can make you wonder if your earlier success was a fluke. But, instead of allowing Mr Self Doubt to continue to spread his poison, I will be fighting back. How will I fight back? Well, I have decided to set a Setting Self Doubt on Fire challenge, and I want all of you fellow self-doubters to join me.

So, what is the challenge? Well, it’s simple; every time you do something to push self-doubt aside I want you to post about it on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #settingselfdoubtonfire or #beatingselfdoubt.

To help you know what counts as beating Mr Self Doubt, I’ve listed some examples below.

• Finished writing a story.
• Finished editing a story.
• Submitted a story.
• Faced rejection and continued to write.
• Read out your stories.
• Uploaded a story to your website.
• Self-published a book.
• Resubmitted a rejected story.
• Faced criticism and continued to write.
• Called yourself a writer.
• Told people you’re a writer.
• Joined a writing group.
• Your story has been published.

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have pushed self-doubt aside. And I will be sharing my achievements with you too.

 

Remember, every time you defeat Mr Self Doubt I want you to share it on your Facebook or Twitter. And don’t forget to use the hashtags (#settingselfdoubtonfire or #beatingselfdoubt), so we can all take the challenge together.

So let’s do this, let’s set self-doubt on fire.

Keep writing folks.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” ― Suzy Kassem

Hi, All! I’m back. I know, it’s been a long time since my last post, but I’ve been wrestling with my day job, studies, and writing projects, plus so many other things. But I have now returned to share my self-doubt fighting advice.

 

So, what do I have for you today? Well, I will be talking about something that we all dread: being dropped by a publisher. This applies to those who’ve lost a book publisher, or a writer who’s had their story removed from a website. I thought it would be a good topic to discuss since I’ve recently had this happen to me, and it’s something that will definitely make you doubt yourself. In a way, being dropped is another form of rejection, and like rejection, it’s something we need to overcome.

 

So, how was I dropped? Well, I wasn’t physically dropped, and it wasn’t by a book publisher (I would need to have one first lol), but it was by a website that two of my stories were on. It was a website where readers can buy short stories to read. Before receiving the email, I had an inkling that my stories would be up for the chop. Apparently, due to poor sales the website would need to trim some of their authors. And since I hadn’t had many sales, I knew I might be one of those authors to go. However, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I had been ninja-kicked in the gut when I received that dreaded email. And of course, Mr Self Doubt decided to pop up and torment me. “Ha-ha! Your work sucks,” he said.

 

But instead of allowing Mr Self Doubt to win, I decided to fight back. And today I will be sharing with you how I managed to do that.

 

• Allow yourself time to grieve. It hurts just like rejection does. In fact, it can feel a little worse because you think that once you’ve been accepted (especially a short story) you’ve achieved a goal. So having that ripped from you will hurt. So there’s no shame in being upset, but don’t let it stop you from writing.
• You need to keep on writing. Write about how you feel. Dump all the emotions you are feeling onto a character. Writing is a great way to unload. And after you’re done, you might have a story that could get published.
• See it as an opportunity. My story wasn’t being read, and no one was buying it. So instead of it staying on a website alone and unloved, I can now try to find my stories a home where they can be read.
• See it as a fresh start. If it’s a story that’s been dropped, now would be a perfect time to read the story again and see how you can improve it. If a book publisher or agent has dropped you, now would be the time to decide what kind of writer you want to be – you might even want to change genres.
• Talk to other writers. Only writers understand what writers go through. So talk to your writer friend, members in your writing group, or write about it on your blog. It’s at times like this that you will need support, so don’t be afraid to ask for it.

 

As you can see being dropped by a publisher sucks, but it isn’t the end of the world. As long as you have the determination and perseverance, you will get over this and continue with your writing journey. And just like with rejection, you need to take a deep breath, fix your armour, and continue with the battle.

Keep writing folks.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it.” –Wally Lamb

Hi, All! I’m back and excited. Why am I excited? Well, it’s April, and that can only mean one thing: it’s nearly time for the PowWow Festival of Writing. I can’t believe that a year has passed since I first went to this festival. It was my first time at a writing festival and the day was better than I had expected. I won’t bore you with all the details, but you can read my PowWow Festival of Writing 2015 blog post for more details about the event.

I learned so much from the day, and since the event, I have felt more motivated to pursue my dream. It changed me, and I want it to change you, so today I will be discussing why you should go to a writing festival.

So, why is going to a writing festival a good idea?

1. You can get great advice and tips from other writers – they say you learn from your mistakes, but you can also learn from other people’s mistakes. At many of the literary festivals, you’ll have all sorts of writers share their writing journeys. At the PowWow festival, we had authors, scriptwriters, and journalists. My head swelled with the amount of information I received, but luckily I had my notebook to hand.
2. You can meet agents and publishers – festivals are a great way for you to network. Agents and publishers often come to the events to give a talk to the audience. So it gives you a great opportunity to collect business cards and even give out some of your own.
3. You can mingle with other writers – there’s something about hanging out with writers that can make you feel more like a writer. So by going to a writing festival, you will find yourself surrounded by writers who are just like you. This, in turn, allows you to see that you are, in fact, a writer.
4. You can buy books and get them signed – some authors who take part in the festivals will bring their books with them. I bought two books last year and got them signed. There’s nothing better than a new book even when your bookshelf is full.
5. It’s a fun day out – whether you go by yourself or with your writing group (I went with my group), you’re sure to have an interesting and fun time.

So, if you see a writing festival advertised, and you can afford to go to it, then go and allow your brain to absorb more knowledge.

 

Keep writing folks.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“Writing is its own reward.” – Henry Miller

 

Hi, All! I’m back with some more self-doubt fighting words.

So, what do I have for you today? Well, I will be sharing five ways that you can boost your self-confidence. It’s known that many writers deal with self-doubt. They tell themselves that they can’t do it and that no one will ever like their work. However, by thinking that way we will never succeed.

So to help you beat Mr Self-doubt, I have listed five ways you can boost your writing confidence.

1. Get your stories published. That can be self-published or published via a magazine or website. There’s no better confidence boost than having someone tell you that they like your story. I once doubted my writing ability due to constant rejections, so I decided to upload a story onto a website and see what other people thought. I had expected everyone to tear my work to shreds, but the comments I got were amazing and encouraging.
2. Keep on writing. As long as you continue to write you will eventually see an improvement in your work. And when you do notice the changes, your confidence will grow.
3. See it and then BE IT. Rather than thinking about rejections and failing, you should imagine yourself as a successful author with your books in all of the bookshops. I often try this visualising technique, and not just with my writing. It helps to kick start that motivation.
4. Start calling yourself a writer. It can be difficult for writers to call themselves writers. Crazy, I know. So don’t mumble that you kind of write stories when people ask you what you do. Instead, stand up and say, “I’m a writer”. And when you do, you’ll be surprised by how your confidence will grow. Most of the time, the only person you need to convince is yourself.
5. Share your experiences with fellow writers. It can be comforting to be around other writers when you have to deal with rejection. Not only can you support each other, but you can also share your publishing success. Talking to other writers allows you to see that you are not alone in your struggles. A problem shared, and all that.

 

So there you have it, five ways to boost your self-confidence. Remember, you need to believe in yourself to succeed on this journey.

 

Keep writing folks.

To end this post, here is another inspirational quote:

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.” – William Jennings Bryan