Confused

It's interesting to look back on this page and see how people have interpreted your question. I took it to be about low self-esteem in general, while others concentrated on lacking confidence in yourself AS A WRITER. I hope that both kinds of advice prove useful - if not in your specific case, then to others who look in on this question. I'll echo what others have said about low self-esteem as a writer. Any writer who doesn't doubt the quality of their work is never going to work on improving it... and will, by definition, never turn out great books.

Trust in yourself. It's good for your 'eart. But doubt, doubt, doubt. It's good for your art.

Writing is a rough occupation. It is not for cowards. Anyone who dares to contemplate this trade is brave indeed. Never confuse low self-esteem with doubt, fear, or being stressed.

All writers go through periods of questioning whether we should go on, or if we are good enough, or is anyone even wants to read what we wrote.

The most helpful things I can tell you is this:

1] There is an agent or editor in this world who will love your stuff, and there are others

who will hate it.

It’s all about preference and finding the people who prefer the sort of story you feel

good about writing.

2] Write what you love and what you are familiar with - it makes writing easier.

3] Read daily, and write something daily. Reading an eclectic array of books will help

you fine tune your writing skills. Read childrens, teens, YA, adult, Poetry, various

genres and notice how the words flow - or not.

4] Invest in a good magazine subscription for writers that focuses on what you need to

boost your knowledge.

5] Lean on others (like you are doing here) but understand that not everyones opinion or

experience will fit everyone. Take what you need, and give what you can. That is how

I see community.

6] Attend writing conferences if you can. They are such a boost of writing adrenaline to

kick-start that ego.

7) Don’t worry so much about the first draft, or how old you are right now, or only having

X amount of time to finish. We never stop learning, or perfecting - just do and have

fun doing it. Rewriting a draft is far easier than trying to make the first one perfect.

Remember: We are all questioning ourselves. That is normal.