10 Reasons to Fear Writing and Then Some
- Psychologically Revealing: If you’re male and you write thrillers where women always seem to get beat up and abused, it may tell the reader about your struggle with the opposite sex. What you write is your voice. It comes through quite loud at times. It can reveal what you find appealing and what you find repulsive. What do we see between the lines? Although, usually, it’s not obvious. I’m sure many readers get lost in the story, which is as far as it goes for them. But some people look deeper. If you’re not buying what I’m selling here, read Edgar Allen Poe.
- Fear of Rejection: It’s out there. Once you’ve written something and submitted it, even if it’s in notes on Facebook, it’s out there. People can now pass judgment. If you fear rejection, this is a tough one. You could always write for yourself. Keep a diary, a journal. Or you could write and allow others to read it. But if you do, criticism will follow. Not from everyone, but there are people with big egos who have to knock what you’ve done, even if it’s great. Then there’s the editor who puts the story first. They’re the ones to listen to. Get used to critics. Embrace it. Learn to love the coach. Even Hemingway edited.
- Fear of failure: This can stop a writer cold. He can be typing through a scene, start thinking about how this whole writing business isn’t going anywhere, and stop. I’ve heard of writers who then go and delete what they have, close their laptops, and walk away. That’s how serious this fear can be. It’s debilitating. Usually, people who experience this fear never get published for obvious reasons. These are people who aren’t ready for publication. They fear failure so much that their ability to try has been hampered. Remember, Success is found in cans, failure in can’ts.
People have discussed fears for years. We’ve all heard that fear itself is all we should fear. All I want to say about this topic and how it impacts writers is that one of the ways to combat your fears is to flood them.
What you are afraid to do is a clear indicator of the next thing you should do
Even though you fear failure, keep typing. Shrug it off. So what if it goes nowhere. At least you got to write a great story. Share it with ten people or a hundred, or don’t share it, but write. That’s what you’ve got to do; write!
Could you find a way to get it to inspire you despite your fear of rejection? For every rejection letter you receive, send out two more submissions. When a fellow reader doesn’t give the expected reaction, brush it off as a personal thing. I’m trying to focus on you and your writing and not on the naysayer. Stay away from the bull-ring, as talked about in my previous post.
Below is a list of some of the other fears writers experience. This post would be too long if I were to discuss each one. Take from it what you want and flood the rest.
- Fear of Commitment.
- Reading my writing to a group.
- Fear of not “knowing” enough (write what you know).
- Never being published.
- Fear of being published and what that’ll mean to you.
- Fear of writer’s block.
- Fear of mediocrity.
Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop
~Usman B. Asif