How I overcome self-doubt when writing

The best advice I’ve been given was by my Papa.

Early in 2021, I was writing a report on microplastics for the Jersey Government Environment Department. I was getting paid a lump sum to produce this piece of writing. Fresh out of university, off the back of my dissertation, I landed this job. I was thrilled!

After 3 years of studying to become a marine biologist and spending countless hours examining hundreds of microplastics under a microscope for my final project, doubt came creeping in when it came time to write this report.

Don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic to land this job! Freelance academic writing from the comfort of my home? Sure! Write about a topic I knew inside-out? Easy! How wrong I was…

I started out strong, researching, note-taking and planning my report. I knew it had to be perfect, if not for anyone else, for me.

Days passed and my motivation to research and write began to dwindle. At this point, I also had a job working in a gym full-time, but luckily we were furloughed for 3 months because of the dreaded C word. This gave me time, too much time in fact.

I would do anything I could to procrastinate actually writing the report. I’d go for walks around the cliff paths, drive to the shop each day to pick up something for dinner, and…