A favorite quote of mine is by Ray Bradbury and reads, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”  Writing is a passion that often goes uncompensated, both monetarily and with attention.  Some writers are unbothered by this.  Some writers prefer the peace of the page to the troubles their writing attracts outside of their own mind.  Many writers, however, write not only for themselves but for an audience as well, and concentrate a portion of their energy on hawking their product to magazines and editors.

Maybe you’ve received a rejection letter on a piece you finally felt sure about.  Maybe you’ve read a wonderful book and are wondering how yours could ever compare.  Maybe you, like me, waffle every twenty minutes between intense self-loathing and complete confidence in your genius.  The most important tool a writer can have is confidence- the one thing that plenty of us, by our very natures, lack.

Confidence is what carries any star through a bitter market.  Without confidence, the writing life is merely one missed opportunity after another.  Too many writers fear rejection and therefore do not submit.  Many writers give up after one or two rejections; others can’t stand the strain of fitting writing into their lives, because of the burdens it carries.  So how do you stay afloat in a field of art that threatens so often to drown you?  Here are a few ideas for both maintaining confidence and assuring action- the life-rafts to cling to when the storms of “reality” threaten.

1. Write down your goals.  Indulge in a little bit of fantasy, if you will.  Think about your perfect situation, where you’d like to be as a writer, and what you’re doing.  For an example, you could write, “I live in a cottage in Miami, Florida.  I am sitting at my desk in front of the window that faces the ocean, revising the last chapter of a manuscript.  I get a phone call from my agent who tells me that the publicity is going well for my second book.  I close my laptop, put the dog on the leash, and go out for a long walk through the park.”  Then print it out and tack it in front of where you write regularly, so you can read it whenever you’re feeling a little hopeless.  It may seem silly, but it’s a good way to keep you thinking about the beautiful certainties of your goals being realized.  Many writers are stuck in jobs they don’t prefer until, they say, they “make it writing”, so it can help to imagine being in a position where you are happy with your career and life.
2. Find a fan.  Every writer needs at least one fan- and for these purposes, it can be your mother, your husband, your dog, your best friend, an online pen-pal, a coworker.  This person has to fulfil one requirement: they have to like your work- and be willing to compliment it.  Usually you don’t pick this person; they end up coming to you.  You don’t need to beg them for attention, but don’t push them away, either.  Despite our strong desire for attention, writers can be very self-effacing, and brush off or turn away from praise when someone is eagerly offering it up.  Sure, your kids may not be the editor of the New York Times Book Review, but if they think you write great limericks, why not make a new one every week and read it to them?  Getting positive feedback from others is a wonderful way to encourage it in yourself- and it just plain feels good.
3. Keep working.  Many writers, when they lose confidence, turn away from writing, as if it were a lover that had cheated on them.  This doesn’t work well, because if a writer stops writing completely, they tend to feel utterly lost.  If you’re working on a project, keep working on it.  If you’re in a rut, start something new.  If you have a page-count or word-count goal, lower it a bit so that the project becomes more manageable.  Once you’ve regained your confidence, you can go back to your original goals.
4. Try a new style.  It can be easy to lose confidence if you feel that your work is getting worse, especially if you’ve excelled at a particular type of writing for a while.  Maybe you had a burst of creativity and pounded out ten poems, and then were unable to produce anything for weeks.  Maybe you wrote a great article while you were sweating toward a deadline, and seem unable to replicate that talent when the pressure’s off.  While steady effort is what ultimately makes a writer, sometimes long periods between great ideas can turn steady effort into daily turmoil.  One way to climb your way out of a deep rut is to try a writing style that you haven’t- or that you do very rarely.  If you write short stories, try writing a poem.  If you write mysteries, try a science fiction or fantasy scene.  If you write objective pieces, like journal articles or nonfiction, try a memoir or a children’s story.  It could be argued that doing this could be damaging, because you aren’t as practiced at it and are more likely to consider your work poor.  But most writers will find this to be a very refreshing change of pace.  Writing a children’s story, for example, can help you think with a child’s mind, which may help you see the story you’re stuck on in a new light.
5. Get a hobby.  Writers need to write- that’s the main recipe for success.  But as tension and strain mount from the constant efforts to produce perfect work, writers can become obsessive.  Find something that you enjoy doing that has nothing to do with writing whatsoever and use it as an activity to rely on when you’re feeling stressed about your work.  Get involved in a physical activity, such as swimming or hiking.  Learn a new skill or game, such as painting, chess, candle-making or scrap-booking.  Join an activity group (a great website to help you do this is Meetup.com) and get to know people that have interests either very similar or very different to yours.  The point with this is to prove that you can have talent and enjoy yourself at something other than writing.  When writers focus only on their work, they’re apt to look at themselves as mere writers, eliminating all other facets of their personality.  When they reintroduce other ways of self-definition, it helps them remember that their identities are not based solely on their ability to put pen to paper.

Remember, you are writing for two reasons: because you like it, and because you feel compelled to.  Answer the compulsion, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself.  Be confident- and you’ll be back on top again soon.