Hi Ajirh
Some ideas:
One - a little prior planning
It can help if you do take your time with roughly planning out your largest overall shapes.
Perhaps laying a couple of dashes or dots down as a general guide as a kind of frame to work within.
Two - do the 30 min classes here on Line Of Action
The first half of the 30 min classes available here can feel a little frantic at first, but I find that they do help me to relax and warm up
After that I find I then start to lay down more confident lines.
Three - mistakes are just part of learning don't let it bother you
I still make mistakes regularly, but I go into each drawing session expecting to make mistakes.
Making mistakes doesn't bother me as much as it used to when I was younger!
Embrace mistakes but also try to learn from them.
Make notes against them about how you would improve or correct your errors perhaps?
Four - the 'nuclear' option, try working indelibly!
Have you also tried to work with ink or similar where you have no means of truly 'correcting' lines that you're not happy with?? This is very challenging but if you're doing number three above, I think you will find that you will get a lot of enjoyment out of laying down a confident and well-placed line without having mapped it first in pencil. To be fair, if I'm working on a drawing that I will intentionally spend a lot of time on, then yes, I would map out in pencil first.
All the best
thank you so much for the honest advice. It's been helpful. The prior planning tip has actually made the biggest difference. Knowing where that line needs to end up helps with creating a more fluid a tapered stroke.
The second tip is more of a mental thing for me because telling myself c'mon sit down for 30 minutes and do it while there's so many distraction is difficult. But im getting there.
I have indeed drawn a lot with just ink and i love it. The darkness of the line matches my comic/manga style and it forces me to really think about the line before i place it. But you are right, planning everything out before you start helps with focusing on the larger picture and helps with creating more confident lines.
Thanks for your advice