Welcome to the writing club! This is the third installment of weekly writing prompts for any writer looking to delve into their writing practice. This week’s overarching theme is about addressing doubt. Looking doubt right in the face and asking why is it even there? I think it is commonplace for writers to experience a bit of doubt during their writing journey. Maybe you’ve had a critic of your work that rubbed you the wrong way. Maybe you’ve had writer’s block. Whatever the case may be, doubt crept in and seemed to linger a while. I know for sure that both scenarios aren’t pretty and they definitely aren’t fun. Therefore, I want to put forth some writing prompts to get you thinking objectively about doubting yourself or your craft so that you can see that doubt is something you can move past swiftly and easily when you just keep writing.

Always know that these prompts are for everyone. In case you don’t write stories or poetry, you’ve most likely experienced doubt in some sense. Thus, you can pick up a journal (or your laptop, notepad) and get to writing down your thoughts and feelings and creativity. Let’s get started! 

How can I not use every building block of my history and heritage and imagination when I make shit up? And how dare I disrespect that history, profane all my ancestors’ suffering and struggles, by giving up the freedom to imagine that they’ve won for me.

― N.K. Jemisin

This quote is taken from the Well-Read Black Girl anthology by Glory Edim. After I read the full essay by sci-fi aficionado N.K. Jemisin, I couldn’t help thinking deeply about this quote. I come from the same cultural history as the author and furthermore, I found parallels within her writing experience with my own. Being a Black woman daring to dream of alternate futures can feel daunting, but with the truth ingrained in this quote I have to listen to something higher, something greater. So do you.

What’s something from your background or heritage that makes you feel pride? Can that pride well up and over power any sense of doubt yoy may have? For any writer weathering the grips of doubt, I invite you to find a nugget of strength in Jemisin’s words. Once you’ve found an aspect of the quote that sticks out to you, write it down in your journal. Make an effort to write the quote clearly and then jot down any thoughts or reflections that come to mind. 

Have you ever doubted your ability to write? What is one way you can positively change this belief?

Answer honestly. It’s between you, your journal and the prompt so be open with yourself, free of harsh judgments. I know for sure that I have doubted my storylines, whether I can even finish projects, and wondered how others would critic my work. Yet, I also know for sure that this limiting idea has set me back, especially in my own writing goals. So, I’ve been thinking about this topic and as my title suggests, writing past the doubt. Doubting your own creativity does nothing more than lead to procrastination, long breaks between writing sessions, etc. If you are writing a long piece, or even a manuscript, this can lead to inconsistency in your writing practice and overall quality because you’ll have started and stopped so much. 

My suggestion is to write down anything, even when you’re overanalyzing your sentence structure or character voice – write it. It’s better to white-knuckle it through those moments of doubt than to completely give up. Thoes days can be like a having a gross taste in your mouth that you can’t shake even when you brush your teeth. Yet, I also know that when I read back over what I have jotted down, my mind free of self-judgment, I realize my writing was quite good. If I need to work on something, I see the changes necessary and make them without thinking: “this writing thing is hard af.” Now that you know my suggestion, what will be your method?

And there it was. That feeling again. A deep shudder from within.

Simple, yet vastly rich. I think you can take this prompt and mold it into anything: a poem, a piece of dialogue, description, etc. Let yourself sit with it, if you need to, or just dive in and start writing. 

Please let me know what you create on Facebook at The Kai Adia Blog or in the comments below! Also, what do you think about these prompts? Until next time!

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Best,

Kai