Thank you Lacey. I wish you many days of flowing writing too!

Mulberry, it is good to know that other people go through this, isn’t it? You seem to be making great progress though so you go right ahead and write all that crap, and then fix it!

That new contract is fabulous news, Julie. But of course, it’s not the thirteenth book. It’s the first book all over again, because it’s something new and different. I’m looking forward to reading it.

So, I stopped whining about it, finished the book, and realized that it Could Be Fixed. My editor loved it.

Now, when I hit those moments, I listen to my gut. It’s inevitably because I’m trying to force the characters to do something that’s wrong for them. Or the emotions aren’t set up right. If I backtrack, I can usually find the problem. If it’s the beginning of a book, I toss it and start again. Congrats on the new contract!

Seriously, I don’t think it’s a requirement to have huge self-doubt. It’s just very common. A little confidence is a wonderful thing and I’m glad you’ve got it.

I think, though, that in the end, the only thing that removes the doubts is just to get the damn book done. Slog through the fear. Face it. Do it anyway.

And I think that’s so important that I’m going to blog about that today, instead of what I was going to talk about.

And don’t forget, that your agent and editor are there to help you make the book sparkly, too. I can see you’re a bit like me, in that you don’t like to show something you don’t think is perfect to anyone. Being a perfectionist this way can make things harder, I think—it makes it more difficult to see the real strengths that can be there in a messy first draft.

Anyway, you will be fine. So will I. It’s just good to share the crows around sometimes.

And that’s the Catch-22 about this situation: things are so subjective, that it’s difficult to believe that the work can speak for itself.

In your case, I totally think you should believe what your editor says. Why would she say it was brilliant if it wasn’t? It’s in her interest to make it as great as it can be.

Personally, I always do believe what my editor and agent tell me. They know much better than I do. So when they say my last book was spot-on, I feel good about that. But y’see, that was *that* book, and *this* book is always different…

You just have to “fake it ’til you make it” – or positive self projection if you read the motivational books. Force yourself to keep on track, stick up notes showing good reviews and nice comments/letters from readers and tell yourself you’re doing great. Eventually you’ll believe it! It’s like your writing is already off on it’s own forging you a great career, but your mind just needs some time to catch up! Trust yourself and your (well proven, 13 times!) abilities, and have a great time taking this exciting new step.

All the best!