Insecure Writers: Securing our Writing

I think about how many conversations I have had with incredibly talented Women of Color writers who are insecure about their work. This, of course, includes me. For many of us, writing is what we inhale and exhale; it’s a big part of what defines us. It’s what makes sense and feels right. But for many reasons, which I won’t get into here (since it’s not the intention of this posting), most of us do not pursue our writing as a career (or we have a real tough time doing it).

I’m dedicating this post to all of us Women of Color insecure writers that need to secure our writing.

After a conversation with a friend about this very subject, I decided to confront my self-doubt by posting a piece of writing that I did not feel good about. In fact, the piece was one that I felt was the worst I had ever written. I posted it and waited for comments. Initially after receiving incredible feedback from a fellow blogging sister, I felt embarrassed and wished I had never posted the damn thing. But the comments were so helpful, and I knew I had done the right thing by posting. Having said that though, my feelings of embarrassment lead me to bring the original post down in order to make the edits and put the new revised version up. What I should have done, though, was to leave the original post for others to read and/or compare to the revised version.

I guess, for me, posting the original story (even for a day) was the first step. The first step towards what’s going to be a long (and difficult) process of working through my insecurities, my self-doubt and my hyper-critical tendencies. More importantly, it was a step towards securing my writing – taking it seriously, as something I want to pursue not for fun, but for a living.

But what helped me take this step?

It was the support. Straight up.

It was the supportive talks with other amazing Women of Color;
The conversations with other insecure sisters who write;
and, of course, the Women of Color blogging community that created a safe, supportive space for me to put myself out there (granted, as Pomegranate Queen, but it’s still me!)

While I don’t have all the answers as to how some of us insecure writers can really secure our writing, what I can say for sure is that we need supportive communities (such as this radical Women of Color blogging one) where we can work towards taking those steps.

I would really appreciate your thoughts and comments on all of this.

Peace,
PQ