“Am I a good writer?”

If you are new to writing, there’s a good chance this question leaks into your thoughts on a daily, perhaps hourly basis. You hand in that finished piece to your teacher, submit a story to a publication, or paste the first sentence of your novel in a #FirstLineFriday forum and then wait, breath bated, for feedback that will answer this question.

Well, I’m here to tell you that if you are asking this question, there’s a good chance you are a much better writer than you think. Don’t believe me? Well, there’s a good reason for that. Anyone starting out in a new endeavor is likely to experience some doubt in their skills. In this post, I explore the psychological biases that cause you to doubt your writing skills. In the next post, I explore a few inescapable aspects of the publishing industry that only serve to magnify this doubt.

The human brain is hardwired with something called the “negativity bias.” This bias refers to the fact that negative things have a greater impact on our psychological and emotional state than positive things. Put another way, our brains weigh bad information more heavily than good. As a result, the pain from one negative comment is felt stronger than the joy of numerous positive comments. Compliments are kind of like Chinese food, you devour them and an hour later you’re hungry again. Criticisms are like a bad batch of sushi, their sour taste lingers in your memory for hours, days, even years later.

Unfortunately, the writing industry is structured so that you are much more likely to receive bad feedback.........

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