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Last night was the #TeachWrite Twitter chat on “Facing our writing fears.” Turns out, we all have them. I’ve heard Kate Dicamillo say multiple times (I’m not a groupie, really!) that she faces the fear of writing every day. Every. Day.
Writing fear is a real thing. It creeps into our lives at the worst of times and the best of times. And publishing a book is no shield from it. In fact, it may increase it. Self talk, “Oh, this publication was a fluke. No one will ever want to read another poem I’ve written ever again.”
Do you get messages from the universe? I do. And if you pay attention, you’ll understand that everyone lives with fear every day. What separates us is the way we deal with it. I am trying hard to get better at holding myself up and away from the fear. I love what Eleanor Roosevelt had to say about fear. “Do something every day that scares you.” We must do this because, otherwise, fear is the winner. But I also believe that if you are not writing in fear, then you are not writing. The act itself is brave!
Here are two of my favorite Tweets from the chat.
I told my students today, truthfully, that writing is hard work, and if it’s not hard, you are not doing it right. It’s important for us to keep writing (facing the writing fears) so that we can tell our students the truth. That nothing worth doing well is easy. Not even the greatest of authors have had it easy. Take heart, though, because once you have written something good, you know how that feels, so you are more willing and ready to do it again.
What are your writing fears? How do you overcome them?
Reflections on the Teche 