Writing Fears

5 Common Writing Fears: Writing Creativity Killers, Part 1

If you’ve been writing for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out that having a writing career is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage to bare your soul in a manuscript, only to face the possibility of rejection and criticism.  And then, there are the inner writing fears. What if you fail? What if you succeed? What if______. As a writer, you’re creative enough to fill in the blank.

With writing fears, the very thing that is your strength becomes your downfall–your imagination. It may comfort you to know that, at one time or another, most writers have felt the fears listed below. In fact, writing fear is so common, I put it first in this series on writing creativity killers.I come at this from the perspective of someone who had to overcome both fear of failure and fear of success in my writing career and who has faced all five writing fears covered in this post.

Fear of Failure

You want to write your book, send that proposal, ask to guest post, but somehow you never quite get around to it. Something holds you back. Your writing dream is so important you’re afraid to even try to attain it. What if you fail? That will mean you aren’t the writer you thought you were.

I know from agents and editors at writing conferences that only a small percentage of writers invited to submit will ever do so.  The odds seem overwhelming. The bookstore shelves are already full of books, so who would want yours, anyway? If you don’t try, you won’t have to fail.

Ah, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know if you could have succeeded. Don’t let a lack of self-confidence hold you back. Here are some ways to boost your self-esteem as a writer: