Summary

The article provides a technique to overcome fear and continue writing by identifying the root cause and counteracting negative thoughts with positive affirmations.

Abstract

The article "How To Write Even When You’re Scared" discusses the importance of identifying the root cause of writing difficulties, such as writer's block, fear of rejection, lack of motivation, boredom, or fear of judgment. The author suggests that by being honest about one's feelings and confronting the problem, it becomes more manageable. The article also emphasizes the need to find a way to defend oneself from negative thoughts and feelings that hinder writing progress. The author recommends imagining oneself as another writer and providing the same compassion and understanding that one would offer to others. The article concludes by suggesting that finding a piece of advice that one would give to a struggling writer and using it as a defense against negative thoughts can help counteract the inner critic and keep writing.

Opinions

The author believes that identifying the root cause of writing difficulties is crucial to overcoming them.
The author suggests that being honest about one's feelings and confronting the problem can make it more manageable.
The author emphasizes the need to find a way to defend oneself from negative thoughts and feelings that hinder writing progress.
The author recommends imagining oneself as another writer and providing the same compassion and understanding that one would offer to others.
The author suggests finding a piece of advice that one would give to a struggling writer and using it as a defense against negative thoughts.
The author believes that counteracting the inner critic with positive affirmations can help keep writing.
The author concludes by reminding readers that writing, even if it is not perfect, is better than not writing at all.

How To Write Even When You’re Scared

Learn how to counteract your inner critic and keep writing with this simple technique

The way a therapist will find coping mechanisms for their patient’s debilitating symptoms is to get to the root of the issue and find a voice that counteracts the negative thoughts overtaking their life. This is exactly what writers who are struggling to put fingers to the keyboard need to do. If you can find the root of your problem and confront it, then you will be able to write again.

But first, we need to find out what’s troubling you. We start by analyzing the feelings you have when thinking about writing.

How to find the problem

There could be several reasons why you’re not writing. The most common ones are:

Writer’s block
Fear of rejection
Lack of motivation to start, continue or finish a project
Boredom
Fear of you or your work being judged by others

The best way to find the problem is to be honest about how you feel. When you can’t write, ask yourself how you’re feeling whilst you’re staring at the blank page or thinking about your work in progress. I find that when I ask myself this, it leads me to the reason why I’m not writing. Ask yourself what you are feeling and why. Find the dominant feeling and find the source of the trigger. Why are you scared? Why are you bored? What’s frightening you the most? What’s creating the most anxiety? Which part of your book are you bored of?

You might not want to hear the answer, but confronting these problems is a must if you want to write again.

How to solve the problem once you’ve found it

Sometimes you might not be able to make the problem go away completely, but by confronting your issues and feelings surrounding your work, you can make your problem more manageable so that it no longer stops you from writing.

When you’ve worked out how your project is making you feel, it is time to find a way to defend yourself from the negative thoughts and feelings that are stopping you from writing.

As creators of worlds and characters, we are experts in stepping into other people’s shoes and living other lives, in order to bring our characters to life and make them realistic. We need to do this when we are faced with a problem with our writing. Imagine someone else is experiencing the problems you are experiencing — what would you say to them? Often this is an interesting exercise to carry out because normally we are very self-critical of ourselves but when we talk to someone else — even if they have the same problem as us — we’ll be kind, encouraging and rational.

It’s easy to say to ourselves “I’m a bad writer”. But if another writer was to say “I’m a bad writer” — we would want to help. We would praise them and encourage them to keep going. We’d offer to look at their ideas and their writing and give them constructive feedback. We are capable of being compassionate and understanding of other writers, so why are we so cruel to ourselves?

How to counteract the inner critic

Find the piece of advice that you would give a struggling writer, a piece of advice you believe would work for a writer you care about, then write it down and look at it every time you are stuck. This is your defense. This is the thought you’ll use to counteract your negative thoughts.

For example, ask yourself how you feel: I feel scared because I don’t think I’m good enough and I’ll never make it.

Then ask yourself what you would say to another passionate writer who told you this about themselves? You don’t know until you try. You’re one of many writers to say “I’m not good enough”. Most likely, all your favorite writers thought that they weren’t going to make it at some point. All writers start out in a place they don’t want to be and dealing with things they don’t want to face, but what gets them out of that place is to write.

When I think of why writers don’t write, I often think of this quote:

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” — Jodi Picoult.

Often we are scared, or unmotivated, or unsure — because we worry too much about what is to come. If everyone could write flawlessly all the time, then no one would be stuck or so afraid of the blank page, and everyone would worry a lot less. Remember: you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page. So whatever the reason is, really, there is only one way to solve your dilemma.

Write.

Thank you for reading my story. Do you struggle with writer’s block? What inspires you to write again?

I am a writer, poet, mental health advocate, proud mother, introvert, and book lover. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: katmorrisbooks.