Page Fright, the newsletter, is here! Unfortunately, that other page fright—the one that messes with your mind, cuts into your confidence, and impedes your productivity—is here for so many writers, too.
With Page Fright, you won’t get lessons on craft. And you won’t receive advice on when to write, where to write, which writing software is best, or how to promote your work. You can find that in other great sources.
What you will get with Page Fright is a deep dive into the damaging thoughts, anxieties, neuroses, and beliefs you probably hold about yourself and your writing talent that are keeping you from being as productive and successful as you could be. They also keep you from having as much fun!
If you’re like most writers I know (including me), you experience times when you’re afraid to write, afraid to not write, afraid you’re an imposter, afraid you’re not good enough, afraid of failure, afraid of success, afraid no one will care about your story, afraid to call yourself a writer, etc., etc., etc. Damn, you’re afraid!
And what are you supposed to do with all that fear? Beat it down with your pickleball paddle? White knuckle it, sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph? Read a new book every time an Amazon algorithm recommends one because reading, after all, is essential to writing? Play Wordle and tell yourself it’s a valid form of writing?
It doesn’t have to be this way.
In Page Fright, I’ll explore some of the fear-driven, self-limiting, creativity-killing thoughts I’ve told myself and have heard from/read about other writers over the years (even best-selling authors and literary legends are not immune). I’m going to point out the absurdity of trying to accomplish something that means so much to you when you are engaging in a systematic program of DE-motivation every time you tell yourself another reason why you can’t write, shouldn’t write, aren’t a “real” writer, won’t get published, etc.
I’ll hold these thoughts up to the light, examine them for their rational, irrational, and even absurd (at times) content, quote from and tell stories about writers with the very same fears, and offer some practical advice on managing and maybe even squashing these fears.
My hope is that you’ll see yourself in these pages, realize you’re not alone, learn useful ways of moving ahead with your writing despite bouts of page fright if they should still occasionally arise, and maybe even laugh at (with) yourself a bit.
Page Fright will address one fear per issue, one issue in your inbox every two or three weeks. And for now, it’s FREE!!
A little about me: I’m a page fright survivor, author of What’s Your Creative Type?, professor at Emerson College, writing coach & workshop leader, TEDx & corporate speaker, with words at Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and PopMatters.
Please join me in saying buh-bye to page fright and hello to Page Fright. Sign up today so you don’t miss the first issue! And if you’ve already signed up, thank you!!
I love "What's Your Creative Type", and am new to writing. I am so excited about this!
Can’t wait to learn from the master and Zoey the mistress! Will send milkbones!