Hi, everyone! I recently held the first Write-O-Rama for Page Fright subscribers, and as part of the session I asked participants to identify their fears about creative writing and share them with others in Zoom Chat. The purpose was for participants to feel a little freed from their fears after acknowledging them to themselves and others. I also wanted to provide proof that they were not alone. (It’s something I’ve been emphasizing in these pages, but now there’s hard evidence!)
Here was the prompt: “List as many things as you can about your doubts and fears about doing creative writing. Don’t stop to think, just write.”
Let me tell you, the answers came fast and furious!
Most of the fears fell into six categories. (There were many duplicate fears within each category, so I listed them just once). Here they are:
No One Will Care
-Why am I doing this? Who cares?
-No one will want to read it.
-Who would want to read my stuff? So many better writers.
-It’s not important enough.
-No one else will understand what I’m talking about.
-It won't resonate.
-Where’s the audience for it?
-Boring, nothing has happened to me that’s worth telling.
-I have nothing new or interesting to say.
-Is it navel gazing?
My Writing Sucks
-I’m not good enough.
-How will I know if it’s any good?
-It will be stilted.
-It will be derivative.
-It’s unoriginal.
-It’s boring.
-It will be mediocre.
-Sounds so much better in my head!
-I can’t write well enough.
-It will be corny.
-It will be too talky, or stupid, or intense, or meaningless.
-I love and recognize good writing but know I cannot express myself well yet.
I Suck
-I’m a hack.
-Who do I think I am?
-I’m not smart enough to write well.
-I’ve got Imposter Syndrome.
-I’m a terrible writer.
-My best work is behind me.
-Stories I tell myself : not good enough, don’t deserve to follow my dreams, etc.
-My taste and my skill don’t match.
The Feedback Will Be Crushing
-Fear of rejection.
-Nothing will ever happen with it.
-Everyone will hate it.
-Criticism will knock me out of the game.
-My family will be disappointed if I suck at the thing I’ve spent my whole life doing.
-If I put it out there, people will judge me in ways I am not ready for.
-My friends will think differently of me.
-I’ll think it’s profound but to everyone else it will be "Captain Obvious."
I’m Afraid to be Vulnerable
-It’s too exposing.
-Fear of the truth.
-People will see the deepest parts of me.
-I’ll be afraid to be open or too open.
-It’s too weird.
-I will sound ridiculous.
Why Bother?
-It’s all been done, what’s the point?
-It’s trite, it’s been done before.
-Others did it first and better than I ever will.
-So much out there already.
-It’s been already said.
-I'm a perfectionist so my biggest fear about writing is that I won't get it perfect, and if I can't get it perfect I wonder why I'm bothering at all.
The responses were so raw and vulnerable. I was really moved by everyone’s willingness to be honest—with themselves and the rest of us. I’ll be discussing many of these fears in future issues of Page Fright.
But for now, I want to say that in reading the responses you might think the participants were ready to just pack it in and give up on their writing projects and dreams. But, wait! When I asked everyone to share their “why” for writing, the answers also came fast and furious:
-To be known/understood on a deep level.
-To discover, to make sense, to learn, to understand, to stay alive.
-I feel like I can tell an entertaining story out loud, so why not write one?
-To entertain myself and hopefully others.
-I’m motivated by justice, grace, compassion, empathy, hope, and humanity. Usually one of these values is the why behind my writing.
-Helps me make sense of the world around me.
-Celebrate the miracle/the beauties of this life — at the center = connection.
-Impact change, help, understand my geekiness and be proud of it.
-Because I can’t help it, because I want my story to exist outside of myself, to understand, to make art out of something that happened.
-To be connected to others.
-I feel a pull to make something from “nothing”- create.
-I think in stories.
-Helps me feel centered.
-Know and express myself.
Aren’t these answers moving? They reaffirmed my unwavering belief that the reasons to not write can’t even begin to stand up to the passion and power behind the reasons to write.
If you didn’t get to attend Write-O-Rama, I recommend doing the following prompts for yourself:
-What are your fears?
-What is your “why” or “why’s?”
-What is your specific commitment to your writing for the next week?
ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!:
Summer has unofficially arrived, which means my summer workshop, “Writing from Personal Experience,” is only 40 days away! To find out more/register, here’s the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-workshop-writing-from-personal-experience-registrationsoon-636521010477
Also, the winner of the Bookshop.org gift card has been notified and will hopefully be delighting in a summer read very soon! Thanks to all new subscribers—you helped me reach my goal!
What is your specific commitment to your writing for the next week? Doing morning pages? Writing a certain number of words? Devoting a set amount of time? Killing some darlings? Sending a query letter? Please share with this growing community of writers!
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What a compelling case to take the proverbial tiger by the tail and begin to write --and tell your own unique story.