How to Write with Confidence (Even When You Feel Unqualified)

This is a guest post by one of our authors, Denise Colby. Welcome Denise and thank you for sharing!

Almost every writer I know has had their confidence waver at some point in their writing journey. You could be struggling with minor uncertainty or serious doubt right now. No matter which camp you fall into, the reality is authors struggle with believing in themselves at times. Which means they don’t have confidence in their writing.

Have You Ever Felt This Way?

Have you ever said, “I want to be a writer” instead of “I am a writer”?
Or used the words, “I can’t finish this book” or “This isn’t good enough, maybe I should stop writing”?

I have. Multiple times.

It was during one of these doubting seasons I came across this verse:

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
—2 Corinthians 3:5

Key takeaway: If we believe in Him, we also need to believe in ourselves.

When Competence Turns Into Confidence

After I had gotten the kids off to school, I took a walk and that verse rattled around in my head. But for some reason the key word competence turned into the word confidence (I wonder who put that there?).

As I mulled over thoughts about confidence, I knew I needed to come home and look up the word in the dictionary.

Confidence: full trust; belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.

Example: His lack of confidence defeated him.

That made me stop.

Is your lack of confidence in your abilities as a writer defeating you?

Why We Struggle with Confidence

As I reflected on my writing journey and the nudges I had over the years, I knew without a doubt God wanted me to write—otherwise doors would’ve closed long ago. However, I wasn’t doing what He wanted me to do because I didn’t have the confidence to do it.

This could mean several things for you as a writer:

Have you scheduled daily writing time?
Written out the idea God keeps putting in your head?
Tried a different genre?
Written a magazine article or blog post on a topic that keeps pressing on your heart?

God has confidence in you. He has given you the desire. He’s nudging you to do this.

Why haven’t you? Why?

Facing Fear

When I asked myself those questions, the truth hit me square in the face.

I was afraid.

But what was I so afraid of?

Putting myself out there?
Looking like an idiot?

I wasn’t looking for accolades. I wasn’t looking for stardom. I just wanted to write and share my heart. But I’d been too scared.

I lacked the confidence to go for it—and trust in the outcome.

What Confidence Really Means

Then I saw the synonyms for confidence:

faith, reliance, dependence

And the antonym:

mistrust

Wow.

In a nutshell, my lack of confidence in myself (lack of faith) and the abilities God has given me (also lack of faith, dependence) were holding me back from sharing something He wants me to share.

What if your lack of confidence is holding you back in your writing?

Confidence and Competence Go Hand in Hand

I realized in that moment I wasn’t really trusting God. If I had faith, I should have confidence in what He’s asking me to do. And I need to depend on Him when I do it.

Write a new chapter? ✅
Edit my manuscript one more time? ✅
Enter another contest? ✅

Only God knows what will happen. We need to have the confidence to do it (and when the nagging doubts creep in—pray them away). We must rely on God with the rest.

When I grabbed my Bible to study the verse further, I realized a mistake (was it really?). The word was competence, not confidence. Oh no! Do I scrap all my previous thoughts? Does it even still relate anymore?

Then I paused for a moment to look up the word competence.

Competence: having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified.
Synonym: fit, capable, proficient.

No antonym. Interesting. There is no negative/opposite of being competent. You either are or you aren’t.

I may not be the best writer, but I am proficient.

What am I waiting for, then?

God’s Truth About Your Abilities

I kept reading, eager to dig deeper.

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
—2 Corinthians 3:4

If God has given you skills—you are capable of using them for His glory. You just need to have the confidence through Him to do it.

What abilities (competence) has God given you? Take some time to think this through.

Where do you put your confidence?

In your own efforts?
In your schedule?
In the skills you think you’re lacking?

Or do you trust God? Do you have the confidence to put yourself out there with whatever it is—and let God do the rest?

(Side note: Receiving critical feedback on our work can be disappointing, but it can also be God’s way of refining what He wants you to write.)

Competence Doesn’t Mean Perfection

God has given us all skills. We are all competent in something. Being competent does not mean you’re the best at something.

Being competent means you’re proficient. You can get the job done.

So have confidence in your writing.

Don’t let your own voice tell you, “You’re not competent because someone else does it better.” That type of thinking affects our confidence as writers, which in turn affects what we do.

Trust God with the Journey

Everyone’s path is different. God has one He wants you to follow. He has given you these skills for a reason.

You need to have confidence in Him that He is with you every step of the way.

God believes in you—and I believe in you too!

If I hadn’t entered my thirtieth contest (I actually went and counted), I would never have won the Scrivenings Press 2023 #GetPubbed Grand Prize. That opportunity led to a book contract and fulfilling my dream of publishing a book.

All the steps to get there took confidence in where I was at the time. God paved a way, but I had to have confidence in Him.

Your Next Step

What task are you going to accomplish today to show you have confidence in Him as well?

Passionate about all types of stories—whether they are from songs, theatre, movies, or novels—Denise M. Colby loves history and constantly finds herself contemplating how it was to live in the 1800’s. Combining her love of learning about history, and reading, Denise writes Christian historical romance novels. Her first novel, When Plans Go Awry, is the first novel in her Best-laid Plans series.

Born and raised in Northern California, Denise moved to Southern California for college and to dance in the parades at Disneyland, where she met her husband thirty years ago. A mother to three boys and soon to be daughter-in-love, Denise loves to read, watch movies with her family, sing 80’s and musical songs, tap dance, and spend date nights with her husband at ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’. She treasures the written word and the messages that can be conveyed when certain words are strung together. An avid journal writer, Denise usually can be found with a pen and notepad whenever she’s reading God’s word.

Every year Denise chooses a word to focus on. She shares her learnings about that word throughout the year on the two blogs she writes for. Sign up for her newsletter or you can follow Denise on her social media or visit those blogs by clicking on the links below: