Thank you so much for stopping by.  

I don’t know why, but one of the most difficult battles I personally have to fight regularly is my ever-present deficiency in confidence.

Growing up, I can remember my parents telling me that I could do anything I set my mind to. That nothing is impossible to me, if I were willing to work hard.

Despite all that, I suffer more than my share of insecurity. It’s a mystery.

Instead of dwelling on my shortcomings, however, I’m making an effort to take the advice of my folks and work hard toward building my self-assurance arsenal.

In this business of commercial writing, one can never have too great a supply of confidence when fighting the constant attack from self-doubt.

So how does one build confidence?

By learning all you can, and practicing your craft—continuously.

My husband’s a bowler. He eats, sleeps and breathes bowling. He reads about bowling, takes bowling workshops, and studies professional bowlers to emulate. His obsession can get a little annoying at times, but it keeps him out of my hair so I can write in peace. And that’s a good thing, too.

Any bowler will tell you the sport of bowling is an emotional one, just like writing.

If you don’t have confidence in your ability, you just can’t get that ball to travel the speed and angle needed to knock all ten of those pins down. The poorer you do, the more agitated you get with yourself. When that happens, you might as well pack up your balls and shoes, and go home.

The more you practice, the better you perform, and therefore have less cause for getting upset with yourself. The better you do, the more confident you become. Then things start to happen. The quality of your performance begins to improve until one day you become a winner.

And that’s what we all want, to be winning writers!

So my advice to all of us is to keep learning, practicing, and moving forward toward our ultimate goal of becoming the best darn writers we can be.

Please share your advice on building self-confidence. What works for you?