Saturday, October 24, 2009

Fear of Writing

by Jean Henry Mead

The single most important drawback to a writer’s success is fear. Fear of criticism from one’s peers or condemnation from the general public. Fear of negative reviews or of spending a year or more writing a book that doesn’t sell. Fear of hiring an agent who won’t send your book to the right publishers. The list is endless.

Fear is a natural human response, especially when you step off into unknown territory such as a new genre, new publisher, new editor. Even bestselling authors fear losing their readers. So how does a writer overcome those fears?

By believing in your abilities and talents. Persistence or staying power must be a tool in every writer’s bag. Marcel Proust couldn’t finish his epic Remembrance of Things Past until his mother died because he feared hurting her feelings. How many other books have been set aside and never published because writers feared repercussions?

The writing profession kindles fear and involves taking risks but writers have to come to grips with their fears and channel them into their work such as thriller novelists who produce chilling stories for their readers. Writer Greg Lavoy advises fellow scribblers not to ignore fear. “Whatever is suppressed not only has power over you, but will help create obstacles to continually remind you of what you’re hiding from, where you feel you don’t measure up, and whether you don’t have faith in yourself. Success often has as much to do with finding what is standing in your way as with talent or persistence.”

Just as plugging in a night light for those who fear the dark doesn’t eliminate fear of the dark, only the darkness, not sending out submissions to new publishers only eliminates fear of rejection. It also eliminates the ladder to success.

The poet W.H. Auden said, “Believe in your pain. Take it seriously,know that it has meaning and utility, and that it grows a powerful kind of writing.” Unfortunately, most of us will do everything in our power to avoid fear and rejection so we don’t learn from it.

6 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

That was a thoughtful and intriguing blog. Thank you.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Also helps to remember that over 90% of our fears and worries never come to pass - so why waste the energy?

Malcolm R. Campbell said...

You've captured so much here in so few words.

Malcolm

Jurgen Wolff said...

One way out of the fear trap is to focus on the process itself. Selling may be the desired outcome, but there is also a lot of personal value from the writing process.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Good stuff and nice to see my major issue acknowledged.


Kevin R. Tipple
http://kevinrtipple.com/

Unknown said...

Exactly what I needed to hear. Those are the things a new writer needs to hear.

Thanks for the honest feedback

SStorrie 1963