Write Part of My Memoir in November, Day 8: On Confidence, Part 1
Welcome to Day 8 of my memoir challenge, wherein I lose and find and lose my confidence.
Not too long ago, I was in a professional slump. I wan’t getting as much work as I used to because I wasn’t pitching as much as I used to but was feeling unable to pitch because my confidence was low because I wasn’t getting as much work as I used to.
Got that?
Regular clients about whom I’d gotten complacent started shifting gears, hiring new writers who would accept less money. The new markets — so many of them — were unfamiliar, overwhelming. And I was having a writerly identity crisis. Travel writer, food writer, dog writer, genealogy writer, tinker, tailor spy… which was I?
Then I hit on the idea of creating a Kickstarter to write and publish the memoir that had been on my back burner for years. What a concept: I could take a break from pitching and from worrying about working in a particular niche. Somehow — I’m still not sure how — I found the moxie to carry it off. The successful campaign not only brought money but a sense of confidence that I could compete in the new era of crowdfunding.
Did that confidence last? It did not. Stay tuned for Part 2, tomorrow.
Edie
Emily Hancock
Patricia Armstrong
