"Facing Your Fears" Wrap-Up

I once heard a great little maxim: "A writer is halfway done the moment he begins."

It's a true enough statement, but why is it true? Because for many writers overcoming fear is the biggest obstacle. Sometimes just beginning is what it takes to overcome the manacles of "maybe" and "might" and "what if." Sometimes all we have to do is start.

And then all we have to do is keep going.

We can study great writing. We can absorb good advice (like you're doing now. *wink, wink*). We can accumulate lists of dos and don’ts, but until we learn to keep on keeping on we're doing nothing except gathering information. Information, I'll add, that is useless until it's put into practice.

A child learns to ride a bike by riding a bike. There's no other way to teach them.

Likewise, a writer learns to write by writing. Sounds simple enough, right? Sure, unless fear is holding you back.

Over the past few (okay, many) weeks, I've examined some of the different aspects of a writer's fear—the fear of looking foolish, of being called out on our grammatical mistakes, of being boring, of being misunderstood or unliked, of failing, of not meeting our expectations—and, as I've said before, every single fear a writer can have stems from one commonality: they all MIGHT come true.

But we'll never know unless we begin.

Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony 
than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Your fear may be telling you that your words don't matter, but that is a lie. Your words do matter. Your story matters. Your story may only ever bless one single person, but until you write it and get it out there you'll never know.

If I had cancer and only three days left to live, and if I found myself sitting face-to-face with you, a writer paralyzed by fear, this is what I'd scream at you regardless of how many people thought me a lunatic:

• Don't be afraid to be you! Write what's in your heart. Who cares if the world thinks you're nuts. The universe has put this on you to write, so write it already!


• Don't get tied up in grammar and technical mistakes now. Yes, those things are important, but you'll get to them during the later editing stages. For now, just write!


• Don't try to be perfect, just write!


• Don't worry about failing. Everyone fails. It's how we learn, so just write!


• And, for the love of Christmas, just write, damn it!

So let your fingers fly across your keyboard today—or if you're really old school: the typewriter, or if you're really, really old school: the piece of paper. Whatever you've got, just have at it. Enough stalling, enough procrastinating, enough excuses, it's time to overcome fear and get to work.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go follow my own advice. :-)

Face Your Fears

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear