by Jenna | Jul 18, 2025 | ScriptMag Articles
In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a reader about having confidence and stretching farther as a writer:
“I think it’s my confidence. I feel completely sure that I don’t know what I’m doing. I’d like to believe it when I tell myself, ‘It may not be there yet, but it will be,’ about my writing. I’d also like to set goals for myself that feel a little more ambitious than those I set now. I like that I protect my feelings but I may be doing too much of that.”
From what I’ve seen, all writers face crises of confidence periodically, including professional, experienced writers, so it’s good to remember you’re not alone. We may also be questioning ourselves about whether we’re pushing ourselves forward enough.
In the article, I explore some possibilities to help:
1. What you say to yourself matters:
2. How you set goals matters.
3. How you protect your feelings matters.
We arrive at confidence by doing the work, not by having confidence in advance.
Want the full scoop? Get all the details in the full article on Script Mag:
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by Jenna | Apr 17, 2025 | ScriptMag Articles
In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a writer who’s commented about feeling like they’ve stalled around writing.
“I’ve made so much progress with my draft but… I’ve just stalled again, and I have no idea why. I’m just not FEELING it right now. What gives?”
Whew, yes. SO many writers I’ve spoken to recently are feeling similarly. In the article, I unpack some of the possibilities for underlying causes and then brainstorm how to recover from the stall.
Why Writers Stall
1. All the *everything* right now is zapping you.
2. Personal life stuff is getting to you.
3. You’re reacting to a mountain (or an iceberg) in your story.
4. You’ve lost confidence in yourself as a writer.
5. You feel overwhelmed by the quantity of work ahead.
6. Your writing practice has been disrupted and resistance has crept in.
How to Recover From a Stall
1. Write for a little tiny bit, right now.
2. Write morning pages.
3. Write about writing.
4. Rewrite your fears and doubts.
5. Calm your fight or flight response.
6. Carve out a space for just writing.
7. Check your priorities.
8. Reclaim your sense of self as a writer.
9. Use writing as your refuge, if you can.
10. Show up anyway.
Usually, avoiding or stalling is a symptom of something else going on deeper down. Solving it often requires a combination of personal work and finding ways to sneak (or trick ourselves) back into writing.
Want the full scoop? Get all the details in the full article on Script Mag:
Image credit: Script Magazine / Canva
by Jenna | Sep 20, 2024 | ScriptMag Articles
In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a writer about confidence, who says:
“I’ve had a rough year and a half, which is affecting my writing confidence hugely now.”
In the article, I share some thoughts about approaches and strategies you might consider to rebuild confidence and trust that it will last.
- Give yourself time, space, and support to recover.
- Be as “full of yourself” as you can.
- Write when you can, as much as you can.
- Find writing lifelines.
- Get feedback from trusted sources.
- Trust the muse.
- Soothe your inner critic.
It takes courage and intention to move (back) into creative risk-taking, but we can do it. Take it one step at a time — as easily and as slowly as you need to — trusting you will gradually reconnect with the truth of who you are and what you were put here to do: write.
Want the full scoop? Get all the details in the full article on Script Mag:
Image credit: Script Magazine / Canva
by Jenna | Feb 18, 2023 | ScriptMag Articles
In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a question about how to keep up confidence in writing:
“My biggest challenge is making regular time to write and work on a script. My question is about keeping my confidence up that I can do this.”
Here’s the high-level overview of my response:
- Being confident means feeling self-assured, believing in yourself and your abilities, and trusting that you can rely on yourself.
- Build confidence through experience and by taking action.
- Protect your confidence by making smart choices about who you interact with and with whom you share your work.
- How you talk to yourself really matters.
- Taking consistent, regular action to write builds confidence.
- Starting and finishing scripts makes a big difference.
- Facing and solving tough story challenges teaches you that your storytelling skills are improving.
- The evidence you take in matters.
- Choosing to believe in yourself ultimately comes first — it’s a choice.
When you take creative risks, however small, and build on your successes, you gradually learn where and how you can trust yourself.
