Will Self-Destruct in 3...2...1...!

I wasn't sure at first what my answer to this week's topic on self-destructive writing habits was going to be because I share a lot of the same habits as my fellow Ink Slingers, but I didn't want to repeat them here for fear of losing your interest in reading my post, so instead I've come up with a few other bad habits I know I have.

I am prone to boredom

You've heard this one from me before, several times as a matter of fact, but it's true: I have a horrible, horrible habit of starting a story and falling in love with it for a few days or weeks and then, slowly but surly, a Shiny New Idea will slither its way into my brain and I start to doubt the story I'm currently working on and decide instead to pursue that "better" idea until...you guessed it, that idea gets old as well and so I go in search of a new, "better" one and the ugly cycle repeats itself again and again! As a result, I'd say I have hundreds of unfinished stories hidden away inside various notebooks and computers from over the years, all left undone, my enthusiasm for each fizzling out. Shame on me, I know. :(

I lack confidence in my ability

This bad habit is also a biggie because it has stopped me (and is still stopping me) from pursuing certain story ideas because I think they're too much to take on, such as I don't know enough about my subject matter to continue, so I might as well move on to something I know I can tackle or I love an idea and it sounds fabulous in my head, but when I put pen to paper to try and write it down, the right words won't come to help me say what I'm trying say and my attempt at getting what I see in my head to transfer itself onto the page is total and utter poo and I give up.

So, as you can see, I have quite the dilemma, but unlike my fellow critique group members, I have no good solutions for how to dash these bad habits, so if you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments! I could use all the help I can get! :)

~Ella