Nothing gets a writer thinking about their habits more than when they talk to someone who wants to take up writing. Take my roommate, for example. Chase knows Amanda and I write out of compulsion and as a mid-twenties liberal lumberjack type, he entertains new things, new hobbies. He says he's always wanted to write a story about this, about that. He's a creative guy and I do my best to encourage him to write down his ideas.
"But what if it's crap?" He asks. Oh, I tell him. It will be. Write it anyway. This takes him back at first and I hand him a notebook and wish him a happy crappy writing session. I wonder how my younger self would have responded to that answer. Oh, that little Harry Potter fanfiction you're writing in your Five Star notebook? Yeah, it's crap.
Well - it was.
Chase's concern about the potential crappiness of his writing is not new. I still have those thoughts, and sometimes they overshadow my own advice, which is - crap isn't an excuse to not write. But it's still a fear most writers have. One of many, in fact. I wrote down each writerly fear I have and came to ten daunting truths about myself that I rather not think about. But fear can be motivation -- or whatever the quotes on Pinterest say -- and maybe even turn these negative thoughts into something better.
Affirmations: "the practice of positive thinking and self-empowerment—fostering a belief that a positive mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything." If you know what hinders you, why not make them work for you instead? I want to go out on a limb and say some of my writerly fears may be some of yours. If they are, maybe the next couple of weeks might interest you. Every Wednesday, I'll make a post about one of my fears and turn them into affirmations. Jury's still out on how hopeful to me this series will be, but my hope is that they help other writers.
What are your writerly fears?
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