Every author’s greatest fear

You want to be an author. You have been working at it to build your skills and feel it is time to make a start on your journey. But there is something standing in your way. Want to have a guess what that is, in 99% of cases?

Fear!

There is no getting away from it. We are all afraid of something. We are born with some fears (loud noises and falling are the inherent fears of all humans) and others we learn. Some are easy to explain (if you were attacked by a dog, it would be natural to be afraid of them) while others are more complex.

The fears which are hardest to address are the ones with no clear explanation. Often they come from our own internal voice. It may tell us we aren’t good enough. Or that, if we try, we are going to fail. Or, as a writer, that no one is going to like what we write.

If no one will like it, then why bother to make a start?

Accept the feelings

The world is full of people who think like that. They decide to run away from their fear and never make a start. Do you want that to be you?

Think about it – if everyone feels fear, that means the the most successful authors of our time felt it. They worried that no one would like what they wrote. And they dreaded letting anyone else see their work. They even reviewed yesterday’s work and wondered what they were thinking of.

The difference it, they accepted that fear as being a part of the process and got on and did it anyway.

BE an author

Amy Cuddy did a great Ted Talk called “Fake it till you make it.” In fact, she shifts this to be “Fake it till you become it.” It is great piece of advice. If you can look in the mirror and say “I am an author,” eventually, that is what you will become. Give it a go. What do you have to lose?

And, more importantly, what do you have to gain?

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