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| Just imagine that Writer Girl's clenched fist holds a pen. (Make your own here!) |
Look! Sitting at the desk! It's a hunched turtle! No, it's Writer Girl!
I can leap tall stacks of books in a single bound! I can type faster than a speeding bullet!
Okay, those aren't really my superpowers. I'm not inclined to label anything I do as a writer as superpower-like. Mostly, I feel like I work hard, and humanly so. There is nothing superhuman about the hours I spend at my desk, thinking and typing and reading and pondering and revising and editing and doubting and trying again and still writing.
But if I had to assign myself a superpower, I'd say it's query crafting. Call me crazy, but I loved writing the query letter for the MS for which I sought (and got) rep. It was my chance to extol the virtues of my MS! It was a chance to send my ideas out into the world! And I just really like writing letters! I had fun, actually, figuring out what I wanted to say about my book and how best to say it. Then my querying process was quick--I sent out a small batch, had a great response rate, and signed with my awesomesauce agent within 2 months from when I started writing my letter.
I'm much more comfortable talking about my Kryptonite, which is self doubt. Maybe you think that calling self doubt my Kryptonite is like answering the dreaded interview question, "What's your greatest weakness?" with "I'm just too much of a perfectionist"--a cop out. Yet self doubt can be a hugely limiting thing. It's hard to do good, creative work if you aren't letting yourself take risks. It's hard to work through a shitty first draft if you can't trust yourself to build on it with time and effort. Self doubt is something I struggle with a lot, and while I've thankfully found plenty of work-arounds, I am still hoping to find that an antidote exists.
What about you, writer-friends: what's your superpower, and what's your Kryptonite?
13 comments:
Oh my goodness... I love Writer Girl! She's so... us!
I think self-doubt can be kryptonite for all of us at one time or another. I know I feel it OFTEN. And had I known you were such a query superstar, I would have picked your brain last winter when I was struggling with mine!
Wow, awesome power. Can you rub some query-writing awesomeness on me? lol
And self-doubt is a weakness of all writers, I think ... I would dare say even most famous/known authors have lapses of self-doubt during new projects and such.
it's like a package. You want to be a writer? Then take self-doubt with you! lol
I bow down to those that can write great query letters.
(Oh and I totally relate to the hunched turtle.)
"It's hard to work through a shitty first draft if you can't trust yourself to build on it with time and effort."
Wow, that's exactly how I feel about this. I am the worst kind of self-doubter even though I'm surrounded by supporters (my family has been awesome).
Your create-a-superhero thing is totally rad!
You nailed this! Self-doubt is the writer's most common kryptonite...though swinging back and forth between over and under-confidence is what could land some of us in the loony bin ;)
Self-doubt is such horrible kryptonite--and I can't think of any writer who doesn't suffer from it! And, you know, I kind of do think your hard work is a super power, even if it doesn't feel like one to you. For me, some days sitting down and working those hours are hard. I mean, I love writing, and I love my stories, but still. Staying on track isn't always easy.
*is envious of your query superpower*
*scurries off to create my own superhero*
Okay, spent way too much time playing with superhero costumes. Self-doubt plagues every writer at some point or another so I think we all share that particular weakness. Fortunately I have many others to call my own!
I laughed so hard at this:
"Look! Sitting at the desk! It's a hunched turtle! No, it's Writer Girl!"
As I sat, hunched over my laptop.
I need some of that query power!
I think we need to have "Team Writer Girl" t-shirts made up... ;)
I had a lot of fun writing my last query too - maybe that's a good sign. :)
And yes, self-doubt is definitely a kryptonite for me. I'm going through a bit of that right now - makes the revision process a wee bit tough.
The really silly thing about self-doubt is how much we (I?) base it on the most recent review/blast of my story. If one person likes it, I think it's perfect. If one person hates it, I think I have to rip the whole thing apart.
Thanks for introducing us to Writer Girl! And adding a little perspective that the most important "super power" is commitment and hard work!
Oh, I feel you on the self-doubt. Mine is at seriously crippling levels. I need to do something about this.
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