I was listening to an episode of Six Figure Authors today where they were answering questions about craft, and it seems the one thing that all of them had in common was that they never read craft books.
I want to constantly improve, but I’m wondering if, at this point, the craft books are only feeding my self-doubt. I remember hearing somewhere else (maybe even earlier in the episode, since I’ve been listening over the course of several days), a recommendation to focus on improving one skill per book you write. Right now, I think I’m trying to establish/correct all of my skills at once, and that might be why I’m floundering and constantly questioning myself. There’s no way my first novel is going to be like these authors’ twentieth, etc. I need to start somewhere and get better.
Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get back into writing – it’s a weekend! – but I really need to consider what I can do about how I approach craft and whether my studies are helping or hurting me.