Author Pep Talk Episode 43

This week’s episode of The Djuna Shellam Podcast Episode 43 is a good, old-fashioned author pep talk. Yes, once again I talk about self-doubt when writing; but, in this episode, rather than dwell on the negative aspects of self-doubt I talk about how one might turn the tables and turn negatives into positives.

You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
E-lim-i-nate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with mister inbetween

I love that song. It was written in 1944 and has been recorded by so many artists, I’d spend all day listing them (okay, so I exaggerate). Nonetheless, the lyrics hit the nail on the head.

Writing Doldrums

At any rate, in this week’s episode, I thought a nice pep talk would help me and perhaps other writers struggling with those nagging little voices in our heads that create self-doubt and inertia. What I like to call writing doldrums. What is that, you might ask. Doldrums is a nautical term meaning getting stuck at sea in windless waters. It’s the perfect metaphor for allowing self-doubt to create inaction, no?

But, more than inaction (or what some people refer to as “writers’ block”), self-doubt can cause hesitancy in making creative decisions, or lead to an inability to make decisions. Writing is all about decisions. If you can’t make them, you’ll either be unable to write, or what you do write will seem feckless; or, heaven forbid, uninteresting!

What-Ifs

In my author pep talk podcast, I address certain aspects that allow self-doubt to creep in. One, in particular, is allowing what-ifs to take over the process. Jumping ahead to what-ifs before you’ve even written a word, or midway into your book or at any point, really, is probably the quickest way to sabotage your writing and mess with your head.

There’s so much more in the podcast, so I urge you to listen on any of the myriad podcast streaming platforms, or via video (mind you, it’s a video version of the podcast, but doesn’t include any live-action video of me recording the podcast. Perhaps someday, but… not today. In addition to my embedded podcast link with Spreaker, I’ll provide links to my Bitchute and Rumble channels; as well as, the streaming links list for this week’s episode.

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Author Pep Talk Episode 43