L: Let It Go

The IWSG blog is all about providing encouragement to writers and our theme for the A to Z Challenge is filled with it. Come back every day for a little pep talk.

Stress, discouragement, absent muse? Writers put pressure on themselves. To get the book done. To make this book better than the last one. To write faster. To write better first drafts. To actually make some money. To land an agent or sigh a contract. To win a contest.

In their minds, some writers feel competitive with others. Are they getting more sales? What is the Amazon ranking. How many five star reviews? And the envy... Does everyone else write in lyrical prose? Is my dialogue flat and unrealistic?

All those doubts add up and pile on our egos and beat us down. Someone should throw a penalty flag.

Other writers offer encouragement and praise. Family members and friends support us with their presence and sometimes financially. They show up at book signings and take care of dinner when we're too busy.

But despite that, the self-inflicted stress builds up and can drag us to a stop. The power to rise above the doubts is within yourself. Let it go.

You can't be talked out of those doubts so you have to chose to go on anyway. Let them go. Be free of them and you'll find your creativity rising like a great drift of snow in Boston. Whoops. Don't know if we're allowed to joke about that yet.

Everyone has doubts but the secret is to persevere beyond them and keep going, keep writing. Let it go!

Probably many people are sick of Frozen references but the lesson is valid for all of us. Accept who we are and gain strength from that. Let our doubts go.

Was it safe to make any references to winter? Sick of Frozen? Do you like the moral of the story? How do you let go of your doubts and move past them?