Writers Need to Face Their Fears

 

Are writers a bunch of scaredy cats? Yes and no. The fear of failure lurks in the back of nearly every writer's mind. There are a few egomaniacs who never have these feelings, who think they will be winners every time they write something new. Oh, how the rest of us envy them!

There is more than one kind of fear that writers face. Some are all-encompassing and debilitating. Everything that person writes gives them moments of agony over how good their writing is, if it's publishable, if any editor will even get past the first two paragraphs. This kind of fear should tell the writer that maybe writing is not for them. 

Then, there is the bits and flits of fear that we all experience. Work hard on an essay, revise and edit, polish until you thnk it's ready, but you suddenly begin to question whether your essay is polished enough to be submitted or not. 

Is it ready to be sent to your writing group for critique? Is it ready to be sent to a publication?  If you to ahead and send it, it's not an unreasonable fear. By submitting, you're in control and can overcome those little fears you have. Keep in mind that you are in charge. 

The fact that you are in control of your writing life is an important one. It can only be helpful in overcoming any small fears you might have. 

Even seasoned writers who've had several books published deal with fears. Read a biography about a famous author, and you'll find elements of fear in their writing life, too. Many wonder if this new book will be as good as the last ones. Will the public clamor to purchase, or will the sales be dismal? It doesn't matter what stage of writing you are in, there are niggling fears to be dealt with.

If you find yourself facing a fear in your writing life, face it head on. Don't merely try to push it away. Think about it. Ask yourself why you have the fear and then what you can do to move it out of your life? Some soul searching will be needed. Talking with another writer can be helpful, too. Stepping away from writing for a short time could have some benefit. A lot depends on how big or how small that fear happens to be.

Ask yourself why you have this fear. Then, think about ways to overcome it. You might need to give yourself a pep talk, listing your successes.  My take is to always accentuate the positive in any situation. Don't let the negatives pull you under.  

Our poster today tells us to keep our goals in mind over the things we fear. Good advice. I would add that we should meet our fears head-on and work on them a little at a time.