How to Believe in Your Story
And in Yourself!
Welcome to the Apple Hair CANON!
Here, I’ll explore creating a fictional universe, and I’m hoping you’ll follow along with your own world. I’m by no means an expert, so let’s discuss how to create a believable, magical, and captivating world. Let’s be storycatchers together!
Want to read Apple Hair, the boy band fantasy novel, from the very beginning? You can start here! Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaiʻi.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to lay down the foundations of our storyworlds together, one word at a time.
Hi, storycatchers! In the last edition of the CANON, I talked about storytelling lessons we can learn from K-pop concerts! It was probably one of my favorite posts to write yet. This week, I’m tackling a huge topic for us storytellers: how to believe in your story. I wrote about how to crush self-doubt in the CANON before, but today I want to dive deeper and give more encouragement.
Question for you: When it comes to believing in yourself, what are some negative patterns you see in your creative life?
I see this pattern a lot in my writing. I start a story, get really excited, and smash out tens of thousands of words. Things are going fine until I reach the end of the second act, where I start to lose steam. Is this really a good idea? It’s not coming out like the writing in my favorite novels. No matter what I try, the plot is looking really dry.
Or another example: waking up to negative feedback or a bad review of my book. Even though I told myself that something like this is normal, I still look down on myself when it happens. Somehow, I didn’t meet expectations. Or the quality just wasn’t there.
Perhaps I need to tackle the heart of this issue. The belief in myself as a writer. Somewhere, deep down, I need to confront the thought that I’m not good enough and this story is not worthy.
Some things I’ve tried to tackle this are showing up and writing anyway, working on a new project, or distracting myself altogether with a K-pop show. Sure, some of these things are good—writing consistently, making something new. And even a K-pop show can refill your creative well.
But what happens when we start that new story and the pattern repeats? Even when hitting publish, that doesn’t mean that you automatically think your story is worthy now.
I think the main thing to focus on is to remember your vision and your abilities. Why did I start this story in the first place? What makes my voice unique?
Sure, it’s good to be honest. If we’re just beginning as a writer, we may not have the practice yet to really get the plot flowing, developing interesting characters.
But the interesting thing I see is that a lot of veteran writers who have been writing for years and years struggle with imposter syndrome. Even though they know how to write a compelling novel, the lack of confidence can still rise up like a rogue wave.
So even though I’ve been writing for many years, I view myself a lot as “not being quite there yet.” What if this can change? What if we can flip a switch and suddenly call ourselves a good storyteller?
When I find myself with a lack of confidence, the words flow slowly on the page. The quality suffers. When I am in a state of mind where I truly have belief in my talents, I feel the pages start to come to life.
This is easier said than done. So I will bring to you another exercise. Try to remember the best compliment you’ve ever received. How did that make you feel? Try to remember every word of that compliment, and then write down a compliment for yourself that you think is an “upgraded” version for the present day.
Here is mine: You wrote a novel about K-pop and included all the things you love about YA fiction and fantasy! With Apple Hair, you were able to hold your work in your hands. No matter what anyone says, that’s a huge accomplishment.
Haha, maybe I need more practice writing to myself. What is one thing that you told yourself in this exercise?
With this exercise, I’m reminded of the word sonder. It’s the realization that every person we meet has a life as deep as our own, filled with unique experiences. How about we turn that around? And look at ourselves with the realization that our experiences are one-of-a-kind, making our stories worthy to be told. My prayer for all of us is that we realize that. And that’s why I call us all “storycatchers.” We don’t just consume stories or tell them, but every day we catch them from the people we meet and the things we go through.
Each day, there’s a new chance to believe in your story. And I hope you can take that chance with me.
Thank you very much for joining the CANON this week. For the new subscribers, how did you like Our Crisp First Day? Our Crisp First Day is the prequel novelette to Apple Hair, and if you haven’t read it yet, just let me know and I’ll grab you access. What would you like me to discuss in the next post? Comment below. Or jump into my Chat or on one of my Notes, and I’ll be happy to hear your input. Let’s believe in ourselves and our stories this week!