Insecure creators

As mentioned in my post yesterday, many of us writers are insecure about our writing. But why is this?

For me the writing process is a varied one - depending on which project I am looking at. Usually, however, it begins with a kernel of thought that grows, over time, into a story or a poem. Sometimes I have needed to carry out some research to improve elements of a story, but for most part, what is written is my own concepts and ideas ... elements of my imagination.

Because of this - and I know that this is true for other writers - what is written from a creative perspective (this does not apply to, for example, academic writing, so much) is intensely personal. Sometimes it can even reveal our inner desires - those things that ordinarily we wouldn't want anyone to know. We therefore become very vulnerable under scrutiny - and many shy away from any type of scrutiny. This makes not only the feedback process very difficult - but also querying (seeking an agent to support our work, or a publisher). Rejection knocks us sideways (at least, it has done so to those I know who have had rejections), and confidence in our own work needs to be bolstered to boost another querying effort.

I have to laugh at myself. I have been discussing this topic for several months with friends, and we all experience these doubts and fears. I was encouraged to write about it - and my own insecurities in myself: my inability to find an identity; my doubts about my own writing; my difficulties with receiving critical feedback. What do I do? End up analysing the whole issue from an impersonal viewpoint that doesn't express my own insecurities. This is so typical of me.