Afraid to Write?

[Adolescent09]

Have any of you prolific writers ever experienced a fear of the written word? On a quotidian basis when the time you have reserved to begin writing anything in general or a book..., has an underlying fear ever impulsively clung to your mind and make you think to yourself: I'll write tomorrow... Write tomorrow... let me take a break from it... I don't want to do it... If this "fear" has pervaded any of you before could someone tell me how to put an end to it? Thanks.

[jon1jt]

yeah, it's part procrastination, part fear that once you begin to write you'll have nothing interesting to say, that you're kidding yourself that you're a real writer. i recommend all writers contemplating a major project to listen to an NPR interview/call in with writer Walter Mosley whose new book is just on tackling this subject. catch the audio at www.npr.com

mosley reiterates the obvious pointers, starting with the need to carve out time to write. he recommends 1.5 hours minimum per day, 7 days a week, with little to no editing. your first draft will take approx. three months, followed by 9 months of intensive editing. easier said than done, i know!

[Virgil]

Good point, jon, both fear and procrastination. And I like the Walter Mosley suggestion of not editing at first. Get something on paper and then later on craft it.

[kandaurov]

I second that, good point, jon1jt. But once you write a book and have to scrupulously revise it in order to be good for print, revise it once, twice, thrice, and so on, you really start growing fed up with your own writing material. Mine still got through with a couple of mistakes, but reading over and over again what you write makes you hate it. It made me hate it. Unless what you write is really good, which might not be my case ;)

As for the fear of writing, I'd say it's quite normal. It's hard to discipline yourself to write, I can't manage to do that. However, if you dream about living off writing, you must have, or develop, an iron discipline. I guess you must have a beckettian approach to it: "you must go on, I can't go on, you must go on, I'll go on"

[Countess]

Fear of writing - I was experiencing it not so long ago. I was very frustrated because the words and ideas wouldn't come to me, so I took a break from it, got some rest, ate some good food. The fear passed after a couple of weeks.

Sometimes it's you mind's way of saying, "I'm exhausted. Leave me alone for a little bit, let me stew in my own juices, and I'll get back to you."

You'll know when you're ready because your mind will tell you "Hey, I've got a brilliant idea. How about this?"

I have found (at least for me) nothing good comes from forcing my way through it. IE: creativity is not something you make happen, it happens and then you make something from it.

Me write like caveman today. Perhaps my mind needs some rest, eh? LOL.

[cows]

I'm younger than most members of this forum and somewhat new to writing, so I haven’t had this happen many times. Still, I think I have some good suggestions for you.

At the very core of this issue is the 'do it' factor. Sh*t or get off the pot, but in this case stay on the pot. Commit to any period of time for writing. If you don’t write during that time, you have to stay in the room with a pen and blank pad of paper until something comes out.

I find it so difficult to actually sit still while I’m coming up with ideas, so there is a lot of pacing. Maybe get up out of your chair once you get going and write in spurts.

Also, when I started, it was on the computer. I don’t recommend typing the first draft of your story. Hand write it so that you see your own writing on the paper and maybe that will soothe any inclination that your work is 'not good' and such. Its yours. Caring about the outside opinion in this part of the process is insane.

Check out Stephen King's "On Writing" if you havent yet. It's a quick read.

[Adolescent09]

Sh*t or get off the pot, but in this case stay on the pot

I think this statement and your username did it for me. In the first case, I'm hungry for beef now (damn you :D) and secondly this point is so true. If you're not gonna let it out of you then leave! Thanks cows, countess, Kand, Virgil and jon for replying (thanks for the article post as well jon). Now you all have a great day. :)

[Shalot]

I'm probably a little late here, but someone above mentioned Stephen King's book On Writing --- another good one is Anne Lamont's Bird by Bird. She talks about the sh***y (it's becoming a theme in this thread) first draft --- that is just get it all out on paper and then go back and do your revisions. That's not much different than what the other posters have said, but I recommend this book --- if nothing else, it's an entertaining read.

[Outlander]

Perhaps this was stated and I, scanning too quickly, did not notice it having been mentioned by those above.
When it comes to my sitting down and writing ,
Ultamately (no, not for spelling reasons)
Ultimately it's the fear of being read that prevents my progression.

Isn't that silly, a writer who has no desire to be read. A writer who fears exposure more than desires publication.

[Aunty-lion]

I am always thwarted by having too many ideas! I'll be so afraid to start writing because I'll be thinking about 100 different ways to tackle the one topic. I guess I'm always worrying that when I start to elimate ideas, I might throw out the baby instead of the bathwater.

In The Silent Woman, Janet Malcolm uses a beautiful analogy for this. She's quoting someone else, but I can't remember who. Anyway, in this story, a man is in a cellar and when he looks around, he can see everything in the world, all at once. He is paralysed. Like me.

[CountingSheep]

I hate writing anything that others will see. I even find it hard to write for myself. I've failed countless classes in school because of it, but nothing seems to work. I just got the only essay I've handed in all year back from my teacher and, in her comments she told me that I was a career first in receiving a hundred percent on and essay. For me it's perfectionism that holds me back. If I start writing and I hate what I've written... I'll simply stop, or freak out and tear up my work. I guess it has a lot to do with me knowing that my ideas will change with time... and in a sense I don't write so I won't be bound by my youthful stupidity as well. :P

[shadowy girl]

I hate anyone to read hwat I wrote, Cuz I'm afraid people won't like it! I can't stop this fear. :(

[Rain_liu]

I also want to write something happening in my life,but i am afraid i can't write it well.

[Aunty-lion]

I hate writing anything that others will see. I even find it hard to write for myself. I've failed countless classes in school because of it, but nothing seems to work. I just got the only essay I've handed in all year back from my teacher and, in her comments she told me that I was a career first in receiving a hundred percent on and essay. For me it's perfectionism that holds me back. If I start writing and I hate what I've written... I'll simply stop, or freak out and tear up my work. I guess it has a lot to do with me knowing that my ideas will change with time... and in a sense I don't write so I won't be bound by my youthful stupidity as well. :P

Yup, I'm with you on that. I have also received 100% on an essay that nearly killed me to write. I actually have come to love writing essays though. At some point you just have to let go and accept that you'll probably change your opinion later. That's okay. It's not the correctness of an opinion that makes an essay good, it's good structure, a well formed argument and appropriate evidence. I just think of it like a puzzle now, like a game,
= this slots in here... here comes a wee quote....a reference to some scholar...etc

I used to treat my essays as if they were my babies, and I wouldn't want to give birth to a child that I would later find flawed!! These days, I guess I've learned to call a spade a spade. It's just an essay. It's fun and it's interesting, but it's not a baby. It can be great, and it can suck.

However, if you are able to overcome the fear, and just keep churning them out like the last one, then great! Stick to it! :p

[Turk]

Oh yeah, after being sick around 3 months, i felt like that. I was feeling like i won't write as well as i do before, but after trying to figure out what to write next my mind started to work and after putting first sentence on paper, it automatically continues.

[Captain Pike]

I just finished listening to the very interesting interview with Mr. Mosley on NPR as recommended by Jon. And I guess I'm pretty sure now that my problem is my lack of commitment to sitting down every day and putting in the time.

I do go through spells where my writing seems so sophomoric it pisses me off to the point where I can't stand sitting with myself, let alone writing. But, this might very well come from having been away from it too long.