Not to remind you of those nightmares where you forgot to attend a class and it’s the day of the final (mine is always a medieval history class), but here’s a quick quiz. 

What is the most important trait for a writer’s success?

A) Talent
B) Confidence
C) Intelligence
D) Creativity

The correct answer: B.

Don’t get me wrong; all of these are great and can help. But I truly believe that what separates people from a published book or a file collecting digital dust on your desktop is confidence. 

Before I continue, I want to distinguish confidence from arrogance. Confidence doesn’t mean you think your writing is the best thing ever and you don’t need help or improvement. That’s definitely arrogance, which I think is the opposite of confidence. I think arrogant people are actually really insecure.

No, confidence is a belief in yourself and your writing despite setbacks or challenges. Confidence enables you to get constructive criticism and revise your book, even if it means rewriting huge chunks (or the whole thing). You see, thin-skinned people can’t take feedback and will despair if they have to change anything in their novels and won’t revise it. As a result, they will give up and not publish their novels. 

Confidence allows a writer to keep writing, even if they are afraid their writing is terrible. It also allows them to trust that their muse/inspiration will return if they get writer’s block. 

Confidence helps them to keep querying when they are met with literally hundreds of rejections. It keeps them publishing even though there are only a few readers at first. 

Confidence basically keeps the writer in the game.

How do you get confidence?

That’s a hard question. For me, I developed it by hiring mentors. They held me accountable to my writing and gave me constant feedback, which gave me a thick skin and lots of practice. They also encouraged me, which helped me build my faith in my abilities, and told me the stories of their rejections, helping me realize that it’s all part of the journey. 

Confidence is built by constantly facing the blank page, and I think mentors have helped me to tirelessly do it. 

I would love to be your Gandalf and help you go on your hero’s journey with your book (and if you don’t know what that is, I’m happy to teach you).  But I won’t randomly disappear and reappear with a new look. I’ll stick with you until you reach “the end.” 

Want to journey together? Let’s do it!