Is Fear Stopping You from Writing?

Does doubt cloud your fingertips as you write? Do you feel like a fake when you call yourself a writer? Have you ever heard that little voice whisper into your ear that you will never be good enough to be picked up by an agent, much less a publisher?

It doesn’t matter if you have experience or are just starting with little to no training, everyone has doubts about the quality of their writing, but it’s what you do with that doubt that is important.

Here are what I consider to be some of the most common fears in writing a novel and how to fight them off:

I tell people I’m a writer, but I feel like a fake. Well, I guess the easy answer to this statement is with question. Do you have to write almost every day or else you will explode? If the answer is yes, I’d say you have Writer Syndrome. The only cure is writing 🙂 Congratulations, you are a writer!

There are others out there who are way better than me. How could I possibly think that I could write a book in their genre? Sure. There will always be someone better than you in your genre, but you have to realize that writing is a journey. You may just be seeing the tip of their successful iceberg and not seeing the tons and tons of work that went into them becoming a bestselling author. This fear is closely linked to another writer’s enemy, jealousy, but if you use that author’s success as an encouragement rather than a stumbling (writer’s) block, and as hope to what you too one day might achieve, it will help you pick up your pen and write. Don’t let the success of others cripple you. Use it to inspire you. They were once unpublished just like you with other giants in their genre, but they didn’t let it stop them. They picked up their pen and wrote and so can you.

I’ll never be good enough to get an agent/publisher. For me, this was a big fear. If I dwelled on it, it would ruin my writing day, so I learned to give it to the Lord and press onward with my dream. Getting an agent isn’t an easy task. It requires hard work and resiliency. You have to be willing to fail a lot and with that failure, comes doubt and the fear of the death of a dream. Do not dwell on your rejections as failures, but rather use any feedback you receive as a means to hone your craft to bring you that much closer to getting that thrilling call from an agent who wants to represent you!

Writing is hard work, but don’t make it harder by allowing fear to cripple your creativity. Take courage and keep writing!

Happy Writing!

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