Writers are a fearful bunch. We have a lot of free-floating anxiety, vague sensations of imposter syndrome, and existential doubts as to the wisdom of the whole endeavor. Many of our thought distortions come from a place of fear. But “fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.” (OK, I’m way too excited about the new Dune movie.)

Write Down Your Fears 

Fear can run in the background so constantly that we hardly notice it. It feels normal but can still sabotage creativity. To face your fears, take some time to evaluate them. Write down all the fears that may be holding you back and zapping your creative energy. Let the words flow without censoring or editing. No one will see your fears but yourself, unless you choose to share. 

What Does A Creative Person Fear? 

We fear we won’t get an agent. We fear we’ll never sell a story. We fear we’ll reveal too much (or not enough) of ourselves. We fear we’re wasting precious resources—time, money, and the tolerance of our loved ones—on our art. We fear judgment. We fear offending people. Sometimes we fear success and unconsciously avoid it through weird, counter-productive choices. 

We fear we are lying to ourselves.  

Kathy’s superego

It can feel good to drag all these fears out into the light. Committed to paper, they can be burned, torn up, or taped to the fridge for ridicule. But first, pick out a few for cognitive reframing.  “Cognitive” simply means “thinking,” and “reframing” means shifting your perspective about an issue. If you took a painting out of a black frame and put it in a red frame, you would suddenly notice different features of the painting. Similarly, we can reframe our emotional reactions to our fears with the power of conscious thought. 

Cognitive Reframing

For example, I fear I will feel destroyed by rejected when I don’t sell books. 

A not-helpful way to deal with this fear would be to not write any books; then I will never be in the position of trying to sell them.  A more helpful reframing of the fear might include:

• I am not the book. People that don’t want the book can still like me.
• In the big picture of life, low book sales are a small problem. (A First World Problem?)
• Low book sales can impel me to learn more about marketing as well as write better books.
• I will never know if someone else would enjoy the book unless I offer it to people.
• It is sufficient that I enjoyed creating the stories. 

Repeat As Needed

Years of negative self-talk can’t be dispelled in an afternoon. You might need to refer back to the reframing exercise from time to time. Also, some people find it helpful to talk about fears of failure and success with a trusted friend. Writing groups can be perfect for this because all writers face these same issues to one degree or another.

To share your fears with me, click on the blog title, then comment in the box at the end of the blog.       

If you enjoyed this journal entry, you might like to read about Behavior Chains.

I started this blog thread on the gritty details of the writing process over on my Facebook Author page, @kbkathylbrown, but think I might be better served putting it over here. If you’re interest in following my writing process in an informal way, you’ll find a few posts on Facebook that might interest you. You can subscribe to the blog from the website landing page (scroll down).