What are you afraid of? Heights? Small places? Hospitals? Success? Failure? Sometimes, what we are afraid of can hold us back. When that happens, nothing happens. Let’s pick on fear of success. I know. It doesn’t seem like a plausible fear, but it is. Although, I’m willing to bet the person who has this fear is most likely not aware of it. I’m not a psychiatrist/psychologist. I fear many things. At least growing up I did. As an adult I still do. It’s something I struggle with sometimes. I end up having to talk myself into trying new things.
Fear of failure is one of those fears. I have to remind myself that I won’t succeed if I don’t try. Or, I tell myself, ‘But what if I succeed instead of fail. Again, I won’t know unless I try’. Getting over one’s fears isn’t easy. But, it can be done. Trying is the key. At least that’s been my experience anyway.
We write and we edit. We try to get the story on paper or the computer screen, then we go back when we’re finished and edit what we’ve written. That’s how it’s supposed to be done anyway. Does that always happen in that order? No. Not always. There are times when we try to edit as we type. The left side of our brain wants to insert itself at the same time our right side of the brain is trying to be imaginative and creative. This process can cause you to slow down when you’re trying to come up with a story.
Let’s say you’re a paragraph into writing a scene. So far you like it, but then the analytical side of your brain (left) is saying ‘No, no. That won’t work’. You go back and rewrite parts of that paragraph. You like what you came up with and move on to the next paragraph. You’re a couple of sentences into the second paragraph when your analytical side starts rethinking what you rewrote in the first paragraph. So, you go back and look at it but aren’t sure how you want to fix it. You end up sitting there thinking. Your fingers start strumming on your desk and you lean back in your chair and stare at the ceiling. An hour later you haven’t fixed anything, nor have you moved on with your writing. Had you waited to fix what your analytical side of your brain wanted to fix, you would have been MUCH further on in your story. You may have even gotten a chapter done.
How many of you can relate to the scenario above. I know it’s happened to me at times. So, how do we turn off the left side of our brain and make its impatient self wait? It’s quite easy actually. You make it wait. Turn it off. If you don’t like something you’ve just written, make a note of it so you can go back at a later date and fix it when you’re not writing. Choose a specific day and time when that’s all you’re going to do is edit and fix.
Loosen the “rope” when you’re creating and “tighten” it back up when you’re editing.
One starry night I lay beneath the sky, the crickets strummed their violins so sweet, dewy drops tickled, the cool it prickled, the moon man smiled up high.
In a previous post I wrote about writing a critique and how easy it is not. Well, receiving them can be difficult too. We want to hear that our writing/story/novel is good/great/excellent or even a masterpiece. The truth is, yes, some will give you accolades like that. But, some won’t. Some individuals don’t know how to be diplomatic and spell things out in a constructive less hurtful way. They are blunt about the negatives in your writing. Well, I say…….LET THEM. Yes, I said let them. It hurts, yes. But you can’t stop them. So, don’t cry about something you have no control over.
I have read reviews of other authors that ripped their story/novel to shreds (so to speak). Did that affect the author any? NO. It did NOT. The author moved on with her writing. She continued. Her books are still published and most of her readers LOVE her writing, including me.
Sift through the criticism that helps you. Learn from the feedback reviewers give you. How can you make your writing better as a result of using their suggestions. Will you use every piece of advice they give you? No. Again. Sift through it. Use what you can.
That moment before you start. Your mind is filled with so many thoughts. How do I begin? I know what I want to say; but how to write it in such a way that hooks the reader? Will what you write be good? Will it hook the reader? Will it inspire them? Will my beginning be as good as the beginning of my last book/story? What if I “sink”? What if it “takes off”? Yes, I can do this.
It’s all so thrilling isn’t it? You may have written many books/stories before and still have these questions going through your mind before you start. You want to make your readers happy, and you want them to have fun. Not to sound pessimistic, but we can’t please everyone. Many will enjoy your stories/books and many won’t. So, relax. Have fun. Don’t stress yourself out. The truth of it is, you have what I call “Your Circle”. These are the people who you trust to give you an honest critique of your writing before you publish your work. If your beginning, middle or end or anything in between doesn’t sound right, they will tell you. Listen to what they’re saying, take it into consideration, and go from there. If you’re new to the writing craft, your self-confidence may need to be built up more. If you are more experienced, you may have more confidence and so on.
Trust yourself. Based on your writing experiences you will come to know what is good and what needs to be scrapped. So…..DIVE IN. Enjoy.
