We've worked together on chapters and a nonfiction book proposal. Recently the client wrote me an email. On the verge of starting the querying process, it seemed to me the client was revisiting issues about the work that we'd already discussed, worked through, and settled. I detected something else going on, and here is part of my response.
I feel for you, but it sounds like you're second-guessing yourself. Remember: fretting, self-doubt, wondering if the work good enough are all a natural and very typical part of the writing process — even for the pros.
There's always a lot of doubt (and fear) around moving to the next step — whether it is a new page, a new chapter, or entry into the publishing process. It's natural to feel uncertain about what lies ahead in new territory. When the doubt arrives — and it will — you have choices:
1) You can allow the doubt to beat you down and immobilize you. This is a dead end.
2) You can harness the doubt and use it — productively — to drive you to make your writing better. This is tricky. Revise, but be alert. Sometimes revision seems like moving forward, but you might actually be spinning in circles.
3) You can look doubt in the face, and tell it to go away, and be assured you have written the best piece of writing you are able to write now. This allows you to move on to the next step.
Only you can decide what's the best choice for you. No one can decide that for you.
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Mary Ann de Stefano
