We deal with fear every single day. When pursuing a writing career, there are a few unexpected fears. Fear of rejection. Fear of success. Fear of failure. Fear that it will never happen for you. Fear you suck. Fear of not being taken seriously. Fear of never getting ahead. Fear someone is getting ahead faster than you. Fear that it can all be taken away. Fear that it whatever you achieve is a fluke. Fear you can’t repeat whatever you managed to do right. Fear, fear, fear.

I could make a much longer list but will stop because, honestly, worrying about the “what ifs” and “why not me” and “why can’t I” and the “when is my turn” moments stop you from moving forward. Fear can cripple and derail. It can also motivate so long as you limit its power.

There’s a Japanese proverb that sums it up the best. It goes like this: Fear is only as deep as the mind allows. I think that means that you can be ruled by fear or you can acknowledge it then push forward anyway. Whether you’ve written 100 books or are working on that first sale, you know some level of fear. To the extent there’s security in numbers, take comfort in the fact you are not alone. We all are fighting off some writing concern. Whatever it is, refuse to let it take over or take more of your time than it should. Whether you write or not, the fear will be there. So, you might as well write.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 8th, 2007 at 4:08 am and is filed under HelenKay Dimon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.