On Judging Your Peers and Judging Yourself

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

It’s that time of the month again, first Wednesday, which means, it’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group:

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

 

Brace yourself—this is the most insecure post I’ve written. I’ve thought it plenty of times, but I’ve never admitted it in public.

I judge other authors.

1024px-My_Trusty_Gavel

Wikimedia Commons, My Trusty Gavel, 2009

 

It’s true. I judge indie authors and I judge traditionally published authors.

You may be asking yourself where I fall as an author since I’m being liberal in my judgments. I have one book published, it came out in January of this year, and I published it independently. It was not an easy decision but I did what I felt was better for my and my writing. I hired editors (both for content and line editing), a cover designer, and a paperback formatter, and I took a part-time job as a substitute teacher to fund the publishing of my book.
I’m now working on my second book (something I started over two years ago but then put aside) and I’d like to see it published by Fall this year.

And this is where the judging starts. I’m a slow writer and I want to control the quality of my book (which means running it by beta readers and editors, etc) and I’m okay with publishing a full-size novel every 10-11 months. I feel like the indie authors are judging me because I’m not publishing more books per year.

Then I feel like the traditionally published authors are judging me because I didn’t do queries and didn’t submit to publishers, nor did I wait for the “real” publishing.

I know, it’s ridiculous and it’s all in my head. I told you, lots of insecurities.

I’m actually the one judging myself and holding myself back from freedom and peace of mind. Freedom to do what I want and definitely not judge myself nor others for what they’re doing.

Here’s to not passing judgement. Something that is easier said than done.

Insecure Writer #88

 

169886430