Write F*cking Words Now

Dealing With Fear

I mentioned in the Introduction chapter that I see a lot of writers second-guessing themselves. I think this is normal for creatives, because when we write or draw or make music we're putting our hearts out there into our work, and that is terrifying.

It's normal to be nervous, but when that fear chokes you into inactivity, then that's when shit's just excessive. I pride myself on being the kind of person that has an answer to everything—annoyingly so! Hence, the questions below and my answers to them. Lather yourself up with my inspiration.

What if my writing sucks?

Who cares? First drafts always suck. Even Stephen King pantses his first drafts and then shreds them to shit two months later. There is no writer out there that creates gold in a first draft. Maybe not even the second. Maybe not even the next book! But the key to being a writer is to, you know, write.

Your first drafts are for YOU. Nobody else needs to see them if you don't want them to. So nobody can tell you that your writing sucks except yourself.

And you know what? Shut the fuck up. Everyone is their own worst critic.

The best way to avoid this kind of self-loathing is to write without looking back. Just bang out that first draft without rereading a single sentence you wrote. It won't give you any time to look back and second-guess yourself. Once you're done and you're ready for editing or a new draft or a new project or whatever, you'll be high off of finishing it and ready to transform it from a hairy caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly.

What if I [insert excuse here] and I can't finish?

You'll never have a draft that you can't finish if you don't ever start the draft. Just write! I have little bitties of stories kicking around that were just to flex my writing muscles that may or may not ever become anything. But it's important to work those muscles. Getting into a writing routine will make it easier and easier every day to overcome that fear.

And if you don't finish something, whatever! Nobody is holding a gun to your head and saying you need to complete a full manuscript. If something happens, like writer's block, or you get a different idea, or you just lose steam, work on something else! It's your life, your creative process. That's the beauty of the writer's journey, you get to decide exactly how it goes.

What if I am happy with my finished book but nobody wants to read it?

Get better at marketing.

This might be some tough love right here, but being a writer these days, even when going the traditional publishing/agent way, means marketing. For most of us that's a scary and terrible thing because we want to just sit in our houses and write stories all day, not try to sell people the thing that took us so long to work up the balls to finish.

But that's the reality. Finishing the book is the easy part. If you want to write for a living, you've got to make money off of those words, which is a whole other level of scary. I get it. I used to be there. Ghostwriting really helped me come out of that fear, because it cemented the confidence in me that people would actually pay for my words.

But had I had someone from the beginning of my writer's journey (even as far back as being a teenager) teaching me how to network, use social media, and make connections, I would have had more confidence so much earlier.

Whether self-pubbing or querying publishers/agents, marketing is going to be a huge part of your life. If you don't really care about making money at it, then power to you, don't worry about marketing and just write your stories! But learning how to interact with people is a must, which leads me to the next question...