I can't believe that I am almost 44 years old and afraid to type these words. So, I am going to close my eyes and leap into the unknown. (Fortunately, I can still type with my eyes closed. LOL) It has been years since I first started writing. And it has been years since I picked up the writing of my trilogy again. (Only got a couple chapters written of the first book and another chapter of the second before life intruded and knocked me on my arse.) Life has gotten very stale lately and I am searching for a way to fill it again and want to give my writing a go again. But I am so very afraid to. I am afraid that I will not be able to finish what I start. Afraid that the words that I need to fill up the pages do not reside within me. That is my biggest fear. What if the words truly aren't there and I am only deluding myself? I will never know until I try, but I am so very afraid of what I will find...or not. And so I stay locked behind the door... Good Lord, this is so melodramatic...yet it is who I am and where I am right now and I struggle to get past this...whatever it is that is hindering the flow of my writing. Where in HELL are the words??? Okay, now that the dramatics are out of the way, my name is Cassie. I am deathly afraid of failure, but too damn stubborn to let a little thing like fear keep me from getting what I want. Anyway, I just wanted to throw myself into the pool without doing the toe test a million times first. I hope that there are some people on this planet who can identify with me and help me on this latest chapter of my life that I am now writing. May God help us all. Cassie
Hey Cassie , welcome to the group. I know what you're going through! Maybe as writers everyone's been there. I was deathly afraid of failure - so afraid, I didn't finish my books. They just trailed off and I'd tell people I'm still working on it. Ignoring their eyerolls. Figuring, if I didn't finish that meant it couldn't be judged - therefore I escaped failure! But I also cheated myself out of the possibility of success. Or idenifying my problem areas! I joined this site recently and have really progressed in my writing. Everyone has been helpful and supportive. And I know if you take this chance, you'll be glad you did!
Welcome Cassie44! I'm new here as well and like you I'm jumping back in to the writing game after being absent for awhile. My biggest fear isn't finding the words, my biggest fear is being accused of plagiarism.
To fear failure is only human yet choosing not to express yourself because of it is failing in its own right. I hope that helps
Welcome to Writing Forums, Cassie! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirments. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Cogito, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
You either write, or you don't - the sooner you realise it's a choice and a matter of your will, rather than your whim, the better. A friend of mine once said - you just gotta write and write and write and let all the trash come out, and that it's ok that the writing is trashy, write out all the trash so you can let the real writing come through, but it can't flow out til all the junk's gone. So just write. Maybe read your old writing, remind yourself what it is you loved, see the potential that you have, be encouraged, and then go for it. Don't be afraid that it's not good enough - frankly, first drafts never are, but that didn't stop Shakespeare or JK Rowling or CS Lewis or any other great story-tellers, did it?
Without fear how can we know courage? It is the catalyst that drives us to actually try and failure to try is the only true defeat...It is the human condition. The words, good, bad, or otherwise, are there whether we know it or not. The only thing you can do is try to find them. Let the characters do the work.
Everyone fells afraid of failure Cassie, but in encouragement I'm goign to say that it is likely we ALL will fail at some point or other -but it is your choice whether to say you failed, or if you just made a mistake that can be fixed. Personally (and this is a sixteen-year-old saying this with all the problems and pressures of today's world added onto beign a teen) I think that creativity is something that should be cherished and celebrated. Go ahead and jump into the pool -because there are others who have done it before you to make a difference and there will be many after you! I write for the heck of it most of the time, but when i come up with something that i really think will make an impact (say my own fantasy trilogy that i am working on and High-five for writing a trilogy -or at least attempting to- sista! ) I will work hard to make the message clear. In fact, you don't even have to publish any of your works to claim that you are a writer! All you have to know is that the words come from inside you and that YOU know who YOU are and what YOU do!
