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by Maurene J. Hinds

Some self-help groups use the phrase, “Don’t compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.” This is a great sentiment, and one that writers might want to keep posted nearby.

Writing is a very personal experience. We pour our hearts and souls into our writing, pulling from our own emotional experiences to create worlds and characters that feel real to our readers. We often feel very connected to our words and our characters, and any criticism can feel personal. And yet, if we’re writing to be published, this is exactly what we put ourselves up against—someone to tell us what’s wrong with our writing in critique groups, and just when we triumph over our character development, plot, and so on, we face rejections. Putting our words before critique groups (hopefully stern, yet gentle ones) and editors can be a scary process, and it can at times be painful, even when we know that the feedback is accurate (”I was hoping they would miss that gap in the plot!”).

However, we all know that words do get published—you may have experienced this joy yourself! But there always seems to be someone who has done it so well, or so easily—at least from the outside. In response, we may tell ourselves that we haven’t written enough, revised enough, sent out enough manuscripts, published enough, etc. How did X author manage to get so many books or articles out there? Yes, it may look easy, but it may not have been to that person. And believe it or not, that great author with so many books out there may still feel the insecurities of sending work out into the world to face possible rejections and harsh reviews.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking with (and yes, even becoming friends with!) some multi-published authors. They’re proud of their work and should be! However, many still feel the same insecurities that “the rest of us” do about writing. They still fear rejections, comments from editors, and difficult reviews.

And this is a good thing.

Why? For one, it shows that they’re still human. As one writer put it, if she reached a point where she was too arrogant about her work, she wouldn’t be able to produce the emotionally-charged, intriguing books that she does now. Emotions drive a good story. If a writer can’t tap into those, the story will suffer. This means both positive and negative emotions. Those insecurities we feel, for example, can help us relate to our characters on their first day of school, during a tough social situation, or any other event where they’re vulnerable.

When you find yourself feeling unsure, remember that even highly published writers still feel vulnerable. Use this as motivation and as comfort. You’re not alone! Second, remember that your emotions—all of them—can help you create engaging stories and characters that your readers will relate to. What can be better than that? Third, face your fears and send those manuscripts out when they’re ready.

Lastly, start something new while you’re waiting.

The mail man brought me something nice today – my contributor copy of Little Ears magazine, bearing my poem Raining. Always wonderful to see something I’ve written in print, and especially wonderful to see it included in such a quality publication, alongside names including Claire Saxby, Meredith Costain and Dianne Bates. By email I also received something nice – a PDF of proofs for my new