Courage is
resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
Courage is a decision – not a feeling. It looks fear in the eye and decides to move forward anyway. It doesn’t have to be a determined march either. It can be simply putting one foot in front of the other.
Fear paralyzes. We understand the one who becomes “frozen” with
a fear of heights. Writers can become frozen, too, and not move forward.
~
Some fears that can stop a writer:
- Manuscript rejection(s)
- Lack of encouragement
- Comparing yourself to other writers
- Lack of confidence in your voice or craft
- Overly sensitive to critiques
- Lack of freelance employment
- Failure
The only way to be successful is to keep going no matter how you
feel or what your experiences have been. If you give up, how will you know if
the very next assignment or query may be your breakthrough?
Writers must learn to believe in themselves when no one else
seems to. Chances are you write what you love. Keep going and don’t give up!
Someone out there needs to read what you write.
Can you list some fears you may have had and how you dealt with
them? Or fears you are currently dealing with?
~~~~~~~~~
Kathleen Moulton is a freelance writer and nature lover. She is married, has 8 children, ages 10-28, and has been homeschooling for 25 years. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at “When It Hurts” http://kathleenmoulton.com/
Photo Credit: Pattys-photos / Foter / CC BY
5 comments:
Oh yes! Fears that I'm currently dealing with! I'm trying hard to believe my book that comes out in October, in time for Breast Cancer month, will be acceptable. I've recently read some HORRIBLE reviews on Amazon, and I'm trying to believe that won't happen to me! I've been very open and vulnerable in my book. What if all my ratings are 1 star?
Kathleen, thanks for the reminder that fear is part of life--especially a writer's life!
Hi Shirley, I can imagine how you must be feeling! I hope it all goes well and I'm glad your book will soon be out.
Thanks for commenting!
Kathy
Thanks for the post. One of my fears has been Fear of Formatting - I was intimidated by the requirements of formatting a book in order to self-publish, and of the demands of creating a cover.
Fortunately, Karen Cioffi published her ebook on making covers recently, and I jumped on it.
As to the formatting, I gritted my teeth, as I had a chapbook of poetry I needed to self-publish - it goes with my forthcoming novel from MuseItUp.
The formatting has been a big pain in the ... and many hours of fussing, but I now know *lots* more about page styles {wry grin}. I just ordered my second proof copy of the chapbook.
There's no substitute for jumping in and doing it.
Good advice, Maggie. Jumping in and doing it is courage. Many times our fears are unfounded. But if what we feared does happen, we can't allow that to determine the next step.
Kathleen, great post. Okay, check, check, check, . . . A writer certainly faces a number of potential and/or on going fears, but perseverance is what will matter in the end.
Shirl, it's impossible to please everyone, so find comfort and support in the good reviews you get, and if you get any negative reviews, simply let them go. If you can read them with an objective eye, see if there's any validity and consider it unsolicited advice for growth in your future books.
Maggie, thanks! And, I'm with you, one of my biggest fears, or rather causes of procrastination, is self-publishing formatting. I just dread the time involved in the learning curve.
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