Are Writers Insecure?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine

The other day, a writer was telling me how insecure and shy she was. She said, “I could sit for days at my computer and be as happy as a frog on a log. (I didn’t know frogs were happy on a log.) Anyway, she continued to tell me that when she finished her book it was almost paralyzing for her to go on book signing tours. “Meeting people, having to talk to them about my book, well–it just makes me feel so inadequate.”

She went on to expound on the grueling times she has to stand in front of an audience to present her book, talk about her writing or just talk to an individual.

The dictionary defines insecurity as lack of confidence or assurance, self-doubt. It defines shy as bashful, easily frightened, timid, and reluctant.  

It is difficult for some authors to toot their own horns. The question is, is  it human nature for some people to feel what they do isn’t as good as someone else’s and others to feel theirs is as good as anyone’s, probably better?

For a writer it can be difficult to get out and mingle, promoting ones self as an author. The question to ask, I believe, is “Are writers timid”? If this is the problem then writers can overcome this by simply practicing talking in front of a mirror, then get with friends and interact with them. Make an effort to talk to someone when we’re standing in line at the grocery. Make the first move to introduce ourselves. Rethink how we see ourselves. Yes, it is possible to re-program how we think about ourselves. However, it will take some work every day.

Or is the question, “Do writers lack confidence in themselves”? If that is the question then the more we write, the more we are published, the more our confidence will grow. Then it is up to us to make sure we are seeing ourselves in a different light and allow our confidence to grow in what we do and who we are.

And just a bit of food for thought.  (I know, that statement is a cliché.) Most people would love to do what we do, “Write”.  Most people would love to be what we are, a “Writer”!