To the plotters, the pantsers and the puzzlers – I say yes. Trust your process.
Easy, right? We are writers, of course we will write! We are published, our stories will be good. Hmm. It doesn’t always feel so simple in the middle of the creative process, does it?
Believe. In yourself. I give you permission.
It’s there. You’ve got it all going on. Your charts, graphs, collages, legal pads, spread sheets, blank computer screen – you don’t have to explain them or justify them to anyone. You just have to have faith that whatever you are doing will get the job done because you are talented and experienced.
It’s a little like being a chef. Unless I’m baking, I don’t use too many recipes anymore. When I do use a recipe, it’s a jumping off point. Or perhaps I’ll look at three recipes for the same dish and create a hybrid. I can do that because I’ve done a lot of cooking over the last twenty years, and I can sense how the food is going to turn out. I couldn’t have done it in culinary school, maybe not even five years after graduation… but I can do it now.
I’ve decided it’s the same with writing. This isn’t my first manuscript. It’s my sixth. I’m winging it with confidence, counting on all the things I’ve learned to make this my best story yet. I’m not allowing the Oh God, you suck demons to plague me when I don’t meet my word count. I’m not worried that I have a half-empty four-act sketch tacked up on the wall. I’m not freaking out because I wrote the beginning, then the end, and now I’m writing the middle. I’m allowing it to emerge in sprints and halts, music, notecards and photographs. The story is there. I can sense. I will write it.
And you’ll write yours too. If you are good at what you do, if you care, if you put in the time and effort to learn more about your craft, then you should trust your abilities. Let your confidence carry you through the convolutions of the creative process. Let everything else fall away. You know what you are doing.
You know you do.
Believe.
