I came across a unique stumbling block today. That stumbling block is called fear.
Somewhere between finishing my fantasy novel and saying goodbye to it, I developed a growing fear in the pit of where my inspiration belongs. It reared it’s ugly head as I faced my next novel (and short story) idea.
What am I afraid of? What is holding me back?
Well, I will tell you. It’s fear that I will spend my time, yet again, with a story that will never meet the light of day. That I will put my hopes and dreams into something that will sit in a drawer, picking up dust. That I will have to accept a growing and disturbing realization that I will not have the writing success that I wish for and that I will not have the energy to pursue it either.
These days every time I try to get something down on paper these thoughts plague me.
So how do you conquer fear?
I don’t know yet, but I keep surging forward and resisting the quicksand that seems to determine whether my muse inspires me or not. But I’d love to hear how you handle all of this – how do you conquer fear that holds you back?
Just like with a child, you have to learn and let go. Writing is like raising children. You instill yourself into them. You invest time and energy into them. You nurture them with every fiber of your being. They grow in this until they are fully grown. Then you open the door and let them fly. They fly away or stumble and fall. Either way, you've got to let go.
I know, it does make it hard though and it's a part of writing I've just learned how to accept.
I second J.L. 🙂
Whenever I question myself about my goals, I do feel fear they will never come to be. However, my attitude anymore is that I write because it's what I'm passionate about. I like to share what I learn with anyone willing to read or listen.
In doing this, I've stopped dreaming about becoming an author with a book in print. Instead, I write to inspire. If I don't get readers, well, then I don't. It's not going to stop me from writing, because writing is what drives me to continue to learn. When I stop learning, I think I will die. That's truly scary to me.
Very true! It's always good to keep things in perspective!
Lately it feels like my writing life is laden with fear. Am I expressing this in the way I mean to? Will people understand where I'm coming from? Will I be able to finish what I start?
The past couple writing projects I pursued, I could only take them so far and they became short stories rather than full-length novels, which I was able to churn out much more easily when I was still in school.
With my latest project, no matter how many small victories I celebrate, I'm afraid somewhere I'll lose track of things. Will my vision be realized in the way I hope it'll be? Or was it all a waste of time?
Sooner or later, I'll just have to take the plunge and I'm sure after that I'll feel SO much better 😎
Ohh definitely – that is fear I've struggled with too – people's reactions to everything I write and whether it will be good enough. But its definitely worth conquering. 🙂 It will be worth it in the end!
Fear among writers, myself included on occasion :), appears to be more common than one might think. A couple years ago I read "The Courage to Write." It's a pretty good book about the subject and I found it pretty helpful.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Courage-Write-Writers-Transcend/dp/0805074678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376369734&sr=8-1&keywords=the+courage+to+write
I think I've heard of that book! I'm definitely going to check it out! Thank you for the recommendation! 🙂
I suffer from fear in all aspects of my life, not just my writing :-/
But dreams are what keeps us going. So even if I know something is 99.9999% not likely to happen, I can't help but daydream about it happening anyway. I need that hope.
I've also started meditating, doing positive affirmations & mantras. (I try to do them on a daily basis but it doesn't always work out so I can) But they help
Me too!!! Thank you for confirming dreams are okay – sometimes that dream is what keeps me going. 🙂 Positive affirmations are for sure worth using – I'm a strong believer in them!
I would suggest reviewing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance