Is It Self-Doubt or Creative Insight? Meet Your Inner Goblin and Inner Mage

One crippling enemy that every writer—whether seasoned or just starting out (with more emphasis on the later)—must face is self-doubt. It’s that nagging feeling that sits in the pit of your stomach and gives rise to questions that almost always start with “what if”.

And I don’t mean the good kind of “what ifs” either. I’m not talking about ideas for interesting scenes or characters, or the daydream-y “what if Netflix bought the rights to my book and I got rich?”

No. I’m talking about the nasty “what ifs”: “What if my book sucks?” and “What if I’m just a bad writer?”

There’s nothing quite like that feeling—and the spiral of thoughts that follow—to make you want to quit writing altogether. This crippling self-doubt holds a frightening amount of power over us. But at the end of the day, it’s just another obstacle on our way. A little mean goblin. And if we ever want to finish writing a book (and maybe even publish it one day), we must face it.

So how do we face this goblin?

Well, if you were expecting a cheerful article about ignoring the voice, believing in yourself, and simply pushing through—you might end up disappointed. The solution isn’t as simple as telling that voice to shut up.

Sometimes, the feeling that something is off can be a genuine signal that a scene just isn’t working. There are moments when you actually should listen to that voice—because in those moments it’s not rooted in self-doubt, but instead comes from the creative force that drives your story forward.

These are moments when the nagging feeling is pushing you to revisit, rethink, and revise details in your story. That’s not your inner goblin speaking—it’s your inner mage. The creator of shiny and wonderful things.

In those instances, listening to the voice can help you grow as a writer. It’s not there to paralyze you with fear—it’s trying to guide you toward something better.

The real challenge, though, is telling those two voices apart: the inner goblin and the inner mage.

So how do you do that? It’s not always straightforward, but there are a few self-reflection questions that might help.

Are you having fun?

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “if you don’t enjoy writing it, people won’t enjoy reading it” (or something along those lines). Not only is that a wise and pretty truthful statement—it’s also a helpful tool for identifying whether the voice in your head is the creating mage or the destructive goblin.

When you’re in the flow—when you’ve started writing and gotten so caught up with the story that you forget where you are—you’re doing something right. It doesn’t guarantee that readers will love your story or that you won’t have to revise and improve it. But it’s a strong sign that you’re on the right track.

Writing should bring you joy before it can bring anyone else joy. And if it doesn’t, your readers will pick up on that.

If the nagging voice creeps in just then—right when you’ve paused and are feeling good about what you’ve written, or just as you’re reading something that you wrote and actually enjoy your own work—it might be the goblin.

And if you sense that it is in fact the inner goblin trying to ruin your fun, try ignoring it for a while. Give yourself a chance. Get back into the flow and see where it takes you. You can always get feedback later—but ride the wave while it lasts.

Is it consistent?

But what if you were in the flow just the other day—everything felt great—but now you sit down to write the next part, and it just doesn’t feel right. You struggle, fight, scratch your head, but something is clearly off. The magic’s gone, and doubt starts to gnaw at you.

If that nagging sensation is the exception—if one day everything clicks, and then the next you’re wondering What was I thinking?—the voice might actually be trying to tell you something useful: that a particular scene just isn’t working. It could be the one you just wrote, the one you’re trying to write right now, or even a section of the story arc that needs a little tweaking.

The call of the goblin tends to be persistent—filling your head with doubt about each and every decision or paragraph written. But if you think your book is the next bestseller one day, and a pile of fertilizer the next—the problem might be technical and not emotional.

This has happened to me often. And ever since I taught myself to ignore the goblin (at least while I write), I’ve found that when I read the scene the next day, I can usually tell if it’s not working.

In those cases, I’ve realized it wasn’t the goblin at all—but the mage. The internal creator. The one who helps shape better stories. And it was telling me that while I’m headed in the right direction, this specific part just isn't as strong as the others—and it needs a bit more thought.

Summary

These are just a few examples, and the painful truth is—there’s no definitive right or wrong when it comes to writing and listening to your intuition. But the more you write, the better you’ll get at recognizing and trusting your inner voice.

The key is learning not to sabotage yourself. We don’t want to live in delulu land—writing complete nonsense and convincing ourselves we’re the next George R.R. Martin. But we also don’t want to live in writing paralysis, where we can’t even finish a single page without curling up into a little ball of fear and self-loathing.

So the best advice I can give you? Keep going. Keep writing. It will get easier with time.

Now—get to it.