I have a confession to make: I often feel like a fraud.

Despite knowing full well that I’m not, I frequently fear that someday I’ll be called out for not being a “real” writer. It doesn’t matter how many articles I publish, how many page views the blog receives, how many resources I create, or how hard I’m working to write and revise my books, both fiction and non-fiction, for release. No amount of progress or success has kept me from feeling like an imposter.

Can you commiserate? Here’s the good news: we’re far from the only writers who struggle with Imposter Syndrome. In fact, this common phenomenon is prevalent in the creative community, especially among those looking to make a living from their writing. 

Despite its near everyday reality in my life, I refuse to allow Imposter Syndrome to keep me from achieving my personal definition of writing success. I’ve been working hard to overhaul my mindset and to adopt both offensive and defensive techniques to combat Imposter Syndrome. And today, writer, I’m eager to help you do the same…

French author Honore de Balzac once wrote, “When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”

I find this quote to be incredibly powerful in and of itself because it recognizes a key misstep taken in much of the advice surrounding the phenomenon of self-doubt. Rather than being an obstacle to overcome or an enemy to defeat, doubt is simply the reality of a choice: will I place faith in myself or will I place faith in my fear?

The truly wild reality is that neither of these options is wrong, so long as you’re choosing the best option for you. Like doubt, fear is not the enemy. It’s the reality of risk. But what does this all mean for your writing life? How can you move forward when doubt has kept you trapped in stagnation for days, weeks, months, or even years on end? Read on, writer. We’re about to dig in.

Are you easily distracted by new story ideas?

There’s a reason it took me over two years to finish a draft of my first novel, and that reason is Shiny New Idea Syndrome. Every several thousand words into my book, I’d conjure up a new way to tell the same story and scrap everything I’d written to start fresh, convinced that my new idea was better than the last. Sound familiar, writer?

If you frequently find yourself tempted by new story ideas (and have often failed to finish a draft because of this), today is the day to break the vicious cycle. Let’s talk about how we can filter pesky plot bunnies to better find focus in our writing lives today.

As writers, writing and reading are obviously the two best ways to fuel our creativity.

But reading and writing aren't the only ways we can stay on top of our creative game. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that you aren't truly maximizing your creativity if you aren't staying active in other areas of your life.

What fuels an artists' work will be different for each of us, but in this week's #FridayFive, I'm sharing five ways that I encourage creativity in my own life outside of simply writing and reading in the hopes that these steps may prove helpful to you as well.

Ready to dive in? Scroll to read a written recap or check out my #FridayFive video below (or over on Youtube---don't forget to subscribe!).

As writers, we often spend a lot of time dissecting and criticizing our work.

We're also no strangers to doubts and insecurities, as we discussed in last week's video and blog post. But just how often do we acknowledge or even relish in what we're doing well? Friends, it's well past time we started celebrating our writing strengths!

Today, I challenge you to think about where your writing strengths lie---and then share them with the world. You can do so in a blog post or a video, in the comments below this article, or over on social media. Wherever you feel most comfortable.

So, are you up to the challenge?

Don't worry, I'll kick things off by sharing a few of my own writing strengths first. You can can catch them in today's video below or over on Youtube, or you can scroll to read through a written summary. Let's go!

Who’s ready to talk trilogies?

Hello, writer, and welcome back to the third and (possibly?) final installment of our blog miniseries on crafting trilogies. 

In the first article, we broke down the three basic types of trilogies and four ways you can plot your own. We then picked up in article two with a breakdown of the many different ways you can craft character arcs for your trilogy, but we’re not stopping there!

When I was first asked to write an article on trilogies, I knew I wanted to talk about plot and character arcs, but many of you also had related questions and concerns. Because many of those concerns couldn’t quite fill out articles of their own, I’ve decided to tackle them today in a blog Q&A session. 

Ready to dive in?

Every writer has doubts. Fears. Insecurities.

But in a world where we share the very best version of ourselves online, the version we want others to see, it can be difficult to remember that the writers we follow on social media aren't perfect. Not even the bestselling ones.

I'm certainly no exception to this reality. I have a bevy of insecurities that often weigh down my writing life, but I'm tired of letting the pressure to live up to other writers' online highlight reels dictate my confidence in my writing.

Insecurities are normal, and they don't have to keep you from living your very best writing life. That's why I'm sharing my own writing insecurities today! Check them out in the video below or scroll to view them in text.

Learning to let go of silly dreams can be tough, but it's all too necessary if you want to succeed. 

Whether you realize it or not, your writer's ego may be standing between you and the writing life you crave. On Monday, writer Emma Welsh stopped by the blog to share all about what a writer's ego is, why it's dangerous, and how you can spot the signs that your own ego may be taking over.

Today, I'm thrilled to have Emma back to discuss how we can combat our egos and keep our writing goals within sight. Make sure to check out Monday's article first, then come back here to dive into Emma's best ego-crushing tips!

When I was younger, I wanted to be the next Tolkien. Realistically, I know I'll never reach those lauded halls, but I won't deny that I'd love to see my name in lights — to be the next great fantasy writer. My writer's ego can often be found running on all cylinders, and that poses a problem. Many of them. How so? 

Today, I'm so thrilled to have my lovely friend and fellow writing blogger, Emma Welsh, join us on the blog to break this subject down in depth. In fact, Emma will share all you need to know about the writer's ego in not one, but two articles here at Well-Storied.

Make sure to read today's article to learn all about what the writer's ego is, why entertaining it can cause more harm than good, and what signs you can look for to make sure you stay on track for true writing success, then come back Wednesday to learn how you can combat your writer's ego like a boss. Sound like a plan? Without further ado, I'll let Emma take the wheel...

I've met a variety of writers since joining the online writing community, and I have to admit: I'm mad jealous of those who look forward to every single writing session with reckless abandon.

I am not one of those writers. And I know I'm not alone.

For a number of us, writing isn't always the most joy-inducing task in the world, no matter how much we love our stories. For any number of reasons, sitting down to write can be difficult for some of us. And oftentimes, procrastination wins out.

The good news? Writing procrastination is completely normal.

You should never treat yourself like less of a writer because you lack the motivation to tackle your next writing session. Like I said, there are a number of reasons why procrastination may plague you.

We're going to talk about each of these reasons, as well as how to stop procrastination in its tracks, in today's article. So let's get going!

Let's face it: writing isn't always easy. Sure, it's fun when we're in the zone—when we have a brilliant idea in mind and the words just seem to flow. But most of the time? Most of the time, writing is hard.

All too often, we battle tricky plot holes, the urge to pick apart our every written word, the monstrous task of editing, and all the other glories that come with being writers. And unfortunately, it's pretty easy to let the overwhelm of tackling tough writing struggles turn us to procrastination rather than productivity.

So, how can we flip the script? That's exactly what we're going to talk about today!

Living the writing life isn't always easy.

Last week, I shared ten encouraging truths I believe every writer should know — truths that help us banish writing doubts, find confidence in our skills and abilities, and stay motivated when writing gets tough — but they weren't all the truths I had to share. You see, sometimes we need a little tough love to push us forward.

Today, I have ten hard truths to share with you — truths that may not be so pleasant to hear, but must absolutely be heard all the same. I share these truths not to discourage you from writing, but to break down the misconceptions and false beliefs that may be holding you back from living your very best writing life. So, let's get started, shall we?