Putting yourself down while writing?

Hi!

As my first post ever, I really need to address a problem I have when I'm writing. I constantly put myself down.

It's not like "Oh, I made a mistake, I'm so stupid"(I actually have never said/thought this) it's more like "Nobody's going to like this story" "You've ruined it" "This story is cheesy/stupid" I used to think it might've been nerves when I'm submitting a new story, but it has continued far past the beginning of my stories.

I know my story ideas aren't lame, I'm one of the most imaginative people you'll ever meet. I just can't seem to stop putting myself down. It hasn't fazed me yet, but I'm worried if this keeps up, I'll stop trying to write.

How can I stop this? I really don't want to stop writing, but this is seriously putting me off.

EDIT: I've already thought posting this was stupid and that I shouldn't have posted this, it's worse than I thought!

EDIT 2: JHM, I think you've got the wrong idea. I do edit my stories, revise and proofread, I am getting better, but I put myself down in the process of writing them not while editing them. I have written a good story or two that I've trashed because I couldn't stop insulting myself and it just made me want to stop. If you meant something else I'm sorry I didn't understand, but I think I understood what you were saying.

edited 5th Oct '12 10:33:13 PM by GoldenFlare

You were definitely right in posting this.

I have very bad self-esteem about my writing. I don't have any real advice to give, but at least now you know that you're not alone. In fact, I suspect that many writers, no matter how talented they are, have low self-esteem.

Just try not to listen to that inner voice that tells you your writing sucks. Strive to improve your writing, but don't pay attention when your self-esteem issues show up.

I think that the best thing to do here is to simply be realistic about your writing. Take a step back and look at it as objectively as possible. If you see things that need to be changed or refined, then alter them; if you see something that you think is genuinely good, keep it. Just don't stop writing. Stopping only means that the good will never come to fruition and the bad will never improve, and that's a shame.

Don't think about yourself at all while writing. You are the author, not the story. Save the putdowns for after you're done writing. With experience, the bouts of insecurity will get shorter.

Even a lot of well-known, established authors like Neil Gaiman do this all the time. It's normal. It's just a block that you have to work through sometimes if you want to get things done.

Leradny: I've tried your idea and it has worked.

Doktorvon: I hope you get over it someday, like I (hopefully) will.

Chocolate Cotton: It's nice to know I'm not alone. But when you said that I realized something.

I might be putting myself down because I think nobody cares about what I have to offer or what I have to say. I'm a very shy person, and I'm pretty sure shy people can still be shy online too.

I really need to change my mindset....

edited 5th Oct '12 10:26:41 PM by GoldenFlare

No offence, but it doesn't sound like you lack confidence in your own writing - you've just said that you're 'one of the most imaginative people you'll ever meet', and you think your stories are good. I'm not saying you sound arrogant, you don't, but equally you don't sound like you're suffering from particularly low self-esteem.

cityofmist: I never said I had low self esteem. I don't know what you're talking about. Doktorvon was the one with the low self esteem in his writing. I was simply explaining a problem I had whenever I wrote.

Well, what you described sounded a lot like poor self-esteem about your writing as well, but if you don't think that's accurate I'll rephrase. You said that you put yourself down constantly while writing and you think your stories are stupid and no one will like them. But actually it sounds like you think your stories are quite good.

Cityofmist:'You said that you put yourself down constantly while writing and you think your stories are stupid and no one will like them. But actually it sounds like you think your stories are quite good.'

You're pretty much describing it. I'm feeling both of these, but the negative one is a lot stronger. Let me explain.

I know my stories are good and I like them, but there's always that voice that says 'It sucks! No one is going to like it! Because it's so frequent I start believing it and I just trash my story. Sometimes I can fight back the negative comments, other times I just give up. I am not clear with my ideas sometimes so if you need me to explain things better, just tell me.

edited 9th Oct '12 3:10:45 AM by GoldenFlare

I know what you mean buddy. I've been feeling the same thing. Though I haven't even written anything since college started (ok besides papers).

But so far it seems like there is a lot of good advice here. A lot of people have at least gone through this problem at least once in their writing careers.