confidence

by Barbara McClenaghan
21st April 2012

how do writers over come their fears when they want to take the next step.

Replies

Hello, Barbara

I'm not asking you to be fearless. The next step may be the most important, but, be sure, it won't be the most difficult if you believe in your potential. Don't forget - this is YOUR moment.

Good Luck

T.O.

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T. O.
Bührer
330 points
Developing your craft
Fiction
T. O. Bührer
01/05/2012

Alistair McLean wrote a thriller called 'Fear is the Key'. And it is, if you think about it.

We write because we're afraid we'll end up regretting it if we don't. We edit because we're scared what we first wrote isn't good enough, and we're frightened of the response we'd get to poor writing. And we try to improve the next thing we write because, well, the first wasn't good enough, was it? Not really. Well, we're afraid it wasn't.

But then we edit the improvement because we're frightened that might not be improved at all. Or our readers might not think so, which would be REALLY scary.

Writing's all about fear. All writers live with it.

You probably get used to such companionship over time. Or at least, I hope so, because I'm scared...

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Jonathan
Hopkins
6735 points
Practical publishing
Fiction
Historical
Adventure
The writing process
The publishing process
Self-Publishing
Jonathan Hopkins
23/04/2012

Years and years and years and years of fear has consumed me. So what did I do? I put everything I have every feared in to my writing as a way to look at it and see it from a new perspective.

Also, family support goes a long way to overcome fears. My partner has been amazing with my hobby of writing. He sits and listens to me for hours about my ideas, tells me honestly if he doesnt like them, reads my material and when he told me that he loved what I had written, along with a few other family and friends, my confidence grew just slightly enough to take that step further. Fear is still with me every step of the way, but I use it to prove to myself that It cant stop me doing what I want to do.

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Victoria
Limbert
330 points
Practical publishing
Fiction
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Speculative Fiction
Adventure
Gothic and Horror
Romance
Victoria Limbert
22/04/2012