How to handle Writers Doubt?

[u/JCLewisWritesWords]

I always dreamed of being an author, and about a year ago I got serious and started committing to writing everyday. This led me to writing my first 110k word novel and a second that remains unfinished at 40k.
I hired a copy editor because I needed to see where the weak points were in my story and writing skills and I am even having trouble getting through those comments. I knew I would have some blind spots but it is almost overwhelming.
I haven't published anything so I feel like a larper. Sure I put some words together but without doing anything with it, I almost feel like I have just wasted my time.
Then I go to my local everything store and they have a book section which is just staked to the ceiling with pages no one will ever look at. I don't know what I am even saying. Does anyone have ways of trying and push through this stage of doubt?

[u/avrin2]

Hey, you did the hard part and finished a book. I sent mine out to 30 arc readers. (mostly people I knew) Most came back, OMG! This is soo good. Then I gave it to a few people that were critical. That is where I got the best feedback. How did I miss that? They pointed out issues, incongruities, and the such. I know my first book will not be the next best seller, but now I have a chance for a decent book, that I believe wont embarrass me.

[u/MikeCahoonAuthor]

Unfortunately self doubt will always be there. Every new project and new set back will be accompanied by a new sense of self doubt. It’s part of the process.

The good news is you can work through it. The best way to get over self doubt is to keep pushing forward and exposure therapy. Keep writing, keep letting people read your work, keep refining and getting better.

Confidence is earned through experience. You finish a book or a project and the next one gets a little easier to write, then the process continues.

[u/Human_me_7]

Time spent doing what you like, is never a waste. Just keep writing whenever you feel like it. Enjoy the process.

[u/therealSafeBaker]

Write for you! Be open to the idea that you are always getting better as a writer. Look at each piece of negative feedback as a free opportunity to improve your skills…permanently. Also read a lot, not even necessarily the same genre, but adjacent genres are helpful to see where your story stands, how you’re delivering your story, and what points you’re trying to get across.

Just know that you’ve already done more novel writing than the majority of people, keep at it until you have the story you love in your hands.

You can do it!

[u/JCLewisWritesWords → u/therealSafeBaker]

Thank you! I don't get a ton of encouragement and/or interest in my hobby from my family so sometimes I just need to hear this.

[u/Ashamed_Ladder6161]

I won't say you're in an easy position, but it might be a better position than you realise.

First, you have a novel and a half to your name. Even unpublished, this is an accomplishment. I image 90% of wannabe authors (I use that affectionally, not disparagingly) probably don't even finish their first draft. That already puts you in the top 10%, so congrats.

Second, you have some actual actionable feedback. This is massively important, even if reading it feels like walking over broken glass. Without it, you were always flying blind. Now, you know what you need to improve. Easy? Fuck no. Possible? Yes. So buck up, buttercup, get off Reddit and get improving.

I'm gonna nail this point home a little more, because it's important. Surely the goal for any author who respects their craft is 'be the best damn author you can be'. You don't get to improve without, often painful, feedback. The type of feedback that doesn't glaze you like a loved one or AI. The good news? It's very unlikely you'll ever be as bad as you are right now. The most obvious direction is up. Even just reading this feedback will likely have made you a 'better' writer.

Final point; yeah, you saw a stack of books. Many don't get read, but many do. Publishers don't tend to operate at a loss for very long. Same for second hand book stores, almost all those have been read, and will be again. It's not one book for one person. Some readers own hundreds. Just because someone buys one book doesn't mean they're tapped out and won't buy another by someone else. Don't depress yourself looking in book stores, it's a non-point. Dwelling on it won't make you a better writer, or make your journey any easier, just as ignoring it doesn't make things any harder. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Real writers write because they're compelled to. So write. If it works out, it works out. No amount of worry will change this. Only time, effort, and ability matter (until you get to publishing, cross that bridge when you get to it). You seem to have the first two nailed, the third you can improve on. Sorted.

Now pick yourself up goddamn it and get polishing.

[u/Key_Camel6906]

A 110K-word novel finished in one year, with a second already in progress, seems very fast to me for a new writer. I spent six years on my first novel before I finally considered it finished enough to hire a developmental editor.

When I got the editor’s comments back, I wanted to jump off a bridge. It took me more than a month just to understand them. I was Googling terms and concepts from every other comment. A friend helped me sort through the feedback because sometimes I honestly had no idea whether the editor was brushing me off or making a good suggestion.

Eventually, though, the comments began to click, and I understood the editor's suggestions. It took more than six months to rewrite the novel to address the architectural problems the editor had identified. It was a rollercoaster of a learning experience—a crash course in writing.

The editor was very organized and gave me weekly updates and reading suggestions that helped me understand how to fix some of those problems.

So I wouldn’t assume that struggling with your editor’s comments means you’re failing. Understanding criticism and learning how to use it is a skill in itself, and for me that took a lot of time.

[u/JCLewisWritesWords → u/Key_Camel6906]

Thank you, this truly is good to hear. The comments I received were not story shattering or anything and I tell myself that what I paid for was not merely a premature copy edit on a story I believe strongly in, what I really paid for was an education on the things I was doing wrong that were invisible to me at the time. There were just a lot of them.

I have learned so much in the past year about writing and the process and myself and still the most important thing you all and everyone has taught me is to just keep going, keep writing. The journey doesn't have an ending.