How Believing in Yourself Can Boost Your Writing Success

Some may say that talent is just a small puzzle piece when it comes to accomplishing goals and fulfilling dreams. The main key lies with a hard work ethic and determination. But there is something else that plays a very important role: believing in yourself. I know firsthand how difficult it sometimes is to overcome self-doubt and gain the needed confidence to keep going and get things done.

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While growing up in a small village in Poland, I wondered all the way through my teenage years what I was really good at. I got good grades at school and I worked hard on the farm helping my parents, but there was still this thought within me that there was something else for me. The answer came slowly my way.

At first, when I was 13, my sister gifted me a book with this beautiful dedication to believe in myself. I wondered how it would be to write my own book, but back then I didn’t believe I could do such a thing; it seemed impossible.

Then, one day my chemistry teacher introduced an issue of the national ecological magazine to my class and pointed out to us the column for younger readers. I took it home and couldn’t stop reading it. I purchased every new edition and kept reading. My dream was to write an article and send it to this magazine with the hope of being published. A year later, I sent by mail my first piece that was handwritten, even though I doubted it would even get noticed.

I forgot all about it, but only until the following year when I received a letter with cash informing me that my article was chosen for publication in the gallery for young writers. I will never forget the awesome letter from the editor who praised my talent and encouraged me to write more. For me, it was the first spark to believe in my abilities as a writer. I was thrilled, delighted, and over the moon. I felt this power to keep writing, and the magazine kept publishing my pieces throughout the high school years.

Later, the college years came with only occasional poem writing, then my first job and starting a family. There was no more writing as life was too busy. Still, in the back of my mind I knew that the true thing that I really wanted to do was write. I just needed to find the time for it and most of all, to have faith in my capabilities.

So, I spent nights taking online courses in creative writing, specifically nonfiction. But I just couldn’t get comfortable with it, especially after taking a course during which one teacher made negative comments about my writing that completely washed away my self-esteem.

Not being one to give up easily, I kept taking courses and making submissions to magazines. But I got nowhere.

At some point, I wondered if I would do better with fiction. I didn’t believe I would, but I felt so lost after countless rejections that I knew I had to try. I began reading numerous books about the process of writing fiction and took many courses.

I wrote my first short story but after my prior experiences, I didn’t have enough courage to send it anywhere. But then one day I read about a competition held by Writer’s Digest, and I knew I wanted to try. I submitted my short story entitled, The Faithful Tunnel.

It turned out later, my story took 4^th place in the Genre Short Story category in the 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. You can only imagine my happiness, but most of all, how I again believed in my abilities when it comes to writing. This was so huge to me, and it gave me all the needed confidence in my writing journey. It was then I began working so hard on my first historical fiction novel, The Polish Girl, which was recently re-published by Bookouture.

And now my second novel, The Polish Wife, in the Secret Resistance Series is scheduled to be published on March 31, 2023:

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From my own experience, I know how important it is to believe in yourself. For me, it happened thanks to having the right people in my path. It started with my sister and that little book she gifted to me, and her encouraging words throughout the years. Then, the positive attitude from my teacher, the editor from the national magazine, the judge in the Writer’s Digest competition who appreciated my short story.

Of course, there were also some negative experiences that brought me down. Now I know these were needed to make me stronger and able to fully embrace the good things. It helped me grow as a writer and to believe in myself even stronger, while learning how to deal with criticism in a healthy way.

All writers receive good and bad feedback, but it’s important that they approach it with confidence. We must remember that everyone’s opinion is subjective. The key is to believe in yourself, no matter what.

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