17 May

Walking the Writer Fear Tightrope...

 

Today's exercise is an easy one to do...
 

  • List all your most severe fears about writing your book. The worst outcomes if you decided to start, and FINISH, that novel or nonfiction work.
  • Then, sometime soon, find a trusted friend and read each item out loud to them, and let them give you THEIR distanced take/thoughts on each fear.
  • Write down their thoughts next to each fear, and sit with that insight for a while. Let your friend's reasoned and rational viewpoint sink in.

FACT: You are too close to those fears to have a rational, reasonable opinion.
Your fears have stolen your objectivity.
 
If you were in the Arctic, and you suffered snow blindness, your sighted friend would have to be the one to guide you to safety, right?
Well, your friend's viewpoints on your fear list is your path to safety.
Heed them.
Follow them.
Real life is never as horrendous as our wild imaginings.
 
And at the end of this exercise, paste the question below near where you write...
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR READERS' LIVES IF THEY NEVER GET TO READ YOUR BOOK?
 
That's the ONLY fear that truly exists.
 
Now, go on, and do the exercise.
If you're not writing, you NEED to do this to clean your mind.

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