What to do when you're riddled with doubt...

Learning to trust is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your storytelling toolkit and it's one that will support you every step of the creative process.

Why? 

Because trust enables action. 

And action is the only way we ever get our stories written.

So, what do I mean when I say, trust? Trust what exactly? 

Well before we talk about trust, let’s talk about doubt because when it comes to writing and telling our stories, often, we’re riddled with it. 

Doubt is essentially a feeling of uncertainty and as all creative acts are, by their very nature uncertain, they easily trigger self doubt – after all, we are venturing off into the unknown, never fully knowing or in control of what  the outcome will be. 

Think about it, even when we know the story we want to tell, we don’t know where it will take us, how it will turn out, whether we can do justice to that story, whether we have what it takes to tell it, or whether our story is even good enough to be told. There are just so many uncertainties. That is why creative acts, such as writing and storytelling, induce doubt.  

And the problem with doubt; it hampers our ability to move forward, it saps our confidence, slows us down, and at its worst, it brings us and our writing to a grinding halt. 

But the antidote to doubt is trust. 

Now you might be wondering how you’re meant to trust when you’re riddled with doubt, and the answer is not easy, but it is simple, and it's effective too:  you make it a choice.

In the face of uncertainty and doubt, you choose to trust. 

• You choose to trust the process and to trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be in that process, which is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong, it’s all just simply part of the creative process.

• You choose to trust your abilities as a writer and as a storyteller, choosing to trust you have exactly what it takes to write and tell your story.

• You choose to trust your voice, trusting whatever it wants to say and however it wants to be expressed.

• And finally, you choose to trust your story, trust that it knows where it wants to go, that it will reveal itself along the way, and in its own time, trust that your story is worthy of being told and trust that you, as the steward of that story, are the very best person to tell it.

Every time you choose to trust yourself, the process, and your story, over doubting yourself, the process, and your story, you build confidence, you keep moving forward and eventually you'll make it, all the way to The End.  

Still in doubt? Why not choose to trust and see what happens.