Battling the barricade of Fear
In the comments on the last post, Michelle Teacress wrote: "Fear is my ever present writers block, my constant battle. Nasty thing, fear." And Debbie Maxwell Allen commented: “One of my biggest [contributors to
writers' block] is fear of failure--and success. Weird, but there are
many times that's the culprit.”
I understand this completely. I have a
feeling that fear plays a role in our writing—or rather, our NOT
writing, far too frequently. Here are a few ways it manifests its
ugly little face in my life:
I become afraid that, despite how well
I wrote yesterday, today I won't find the words and will end up
wasting my time staring at a blank screen—so I don't turn on the
computer at all, rather than be defeated. I need to remember at these
times that one page is better than no page at all. Even if I have a
week of such slow writing, I will also have seven pages at the end of
that week. And often, forcing myself to write through that fear will
result in renewing my energy and inspiration—sometimes I sit down
and force myself to write one page...and end up with ten. The days I
don't force myself, however, I end up with nothing—except the
miserable feeling of failure.
“If you dare nothing, then when the
day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.”
-Neil Gaiman
Or, I begin to worry that my writing,
even if flowing perfectly well, will be poor. What's the point of
writing, if I can't write Harry Potter or
Pride and Prejudice?
The very simple answer is that I will never
write anything like Pride and Prejudice
if I don't WRITE. Even Sense and Sensibility,
as wonderful as it is, is not Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen had to get there, too. J. K. Rowling took years to write
the first Harry Potter book, and threw away (at least figuratively) a
whole lot of pages. I shouldn't be afraid of doing that either.
“The greater
danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and
falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our
mark.”
-Michelangelo
Or, like Debbie
mentioned, there can be a fear of success. For me, it becomes a fear
that if I have success in some things, I'll always be held to that
standard and be unable to meet it. Won't success in writing throw a
wrench in my life? If I do find an editor, will I be able to handle
the deadlines and pressure without losing the comfortable way writing
fits into my life right now? Well, probably not completely. But that
isn't something to be afraid of.
The
truth is, there is never
anything worth being afraid of. Life happens. Change happens. Writing
should happen, too.
“Be not afraid.”
-Isaiah 43:1 (among
hundreds of other verses, but that may be my favorite context)
Wonderful post. Fear can be paralyzing; it takes practice and persistence to move through it, but it can be done! Having good writer buddies and other supportive people in your life is a big help in writing through fear.
ReplyDeleteMichelangelo's quote is one of my favorites. It really puts things into perspective and motivates me!
The very first writing book I bought was Anne Lammott's Bird by Bird. I was still at Purdue at the time, a lab rat, but after recently having read A Fine Balance, I began to write. It was crapola. I needed some guidance and so picked up Bird. I laughed when I came across Shitty First Drafts. That pretty much cured all my love of beautiful sentences NOW. This is why revision rocks.
ReplyDeleteAnd last year, I read the whole Bible, and one phrase leapt out at me over and over; Fear not.
I'm still learning to write fearlessly. Good for you for writing through the fear, Faith.
Your comments make sense and are sensible. :) Really, you read my mind. I think a lot of us are in the same boat!
ReplyDelete~Debbie
girl, you are SO encouraging! I am glad I stumbled upon your page here. just the inspiration I needed.
ReplyDeleteAmazing quotes. I think Neil G. is pretty awesome. But I do need some moral support now and then and those quotes should be plaster to my wall!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fabulously inspirational post! You're right. There's never anything worth being afraid of!
ReplyDelete