There are few tools and resources in writing that are so under-utilized as accountability. When combating self-rejection, you need people around you that are able to tell you you are capable of doing. The role of accountability is two-fold.
Support. Writing is hard, and can sometimes feel like you are doing all of this by yourself. Writing, making worlds of nothing, is hard! It truly is. With that said, never take lightly how crucial this is to have people whom do the same things you, encourage you! Encouragement as a writer means there is someone (or a group of people) that know your struggles, familiar with your passion, and can remind you to keep going. This is essential.
Responsibility. If you say you are a writer, you need to write! Your responsibility is to write. Simply stated, if you are working on something –and people around you know about it–the expectation is that you finish it. Accountability assures the writer that someone is anticipating what they will create. Respect your imagination enough to see a thought or an idea through!
I want to see all of you win, and write down all the things your imagination tell you. I want you to know you will have moments of abject fear when you put pen to paper–but commit to what you want to do! Embrace what you want to create what you want…and make the rest up. After all, you’re a writer! You can do that.
Note: These are real psychological conditions and they need to be treated with respect. With that said, fear is a source of self-rejection. So, let us examine this. -JBHarris
Scriptophobia: fear of writing in public
Graphophobia: fear of writing (or even thinking of writing)
Fear is the root of self-rejection as it relates to writing! Fear is a liar, a gossip, a mocking bird, and a hole in the bottom of any ship! It is the enemy of imagination. Let me say it again:
FEAR IS THE ENEMY OF IMAGINATION!
When confronting these serious circumstances, let me say these four things—
Fear is natural, not normal. There are some things about writing that are frightening. But most of this fear comes from what other people may think about your work! The red pens, the Omnipotent No and the rejection of manuscripts. Fear of rejection comes with the territory of writing. Yet, you must bear in mind this one thing, “I have the ability to write whatever I want, and I have the freedom to write whatever I want.”
Make this your mantra. It will save your sanity!
See what scares you. The thing that keeps your from writing, has to be seen in order to be confronted. The most important question you must ask yourself is, “What is scaring me about this work?” I cannot emphasize this enough! Aside from asking yourself, “What am I going to write about?” You have to ask yourself if there is something relating to this work–or a future work–that could cause you to be scared to write it. Here, right here, is where writers get and become stuck. If you cannot confront what is scaring you, if you will not confront what is stopping you, you will ever write.
Think about this! Do you want to be in such a blockage that you cannot create anything else…because you don’t believe you can!
See the problem, dear ones. Stop running from it.
*Note: Trauma is a real thing, and anxiety is real. Know that help is available, and you are entitled to ask for what you need. Artists sometimes are the people whom need to confront what bothers them, what hurts them in order to write as they need. Don’t release the gift without a fight!
Schedule, prep time andrelaxing. When confronting this level of fear and apprehension, getting a routine together to write/create is comforting. Even if that is 5 minutes to think about what you want to write. In that time, take 5 deep breaths–thinking on what you want to write about. Focus your energy on being relaxed enough to imagine. From that, try and write for five minutes. Consider this akin to learning to walk again. You have to give yourself time. Be gentle with yourself. Take it one step at a time.
Slay the dragons. Write. You have to write through the fear! You MUST write through the fear. Remember, the first person you write for is yourself! The first person who is your first fan of your work is YOU! The rest of the world will come–if you want.
Tip: Try keeping a journal. Don’t commit to a word count or page count. Just write. Whatever it is, whatever you feel. Just write it down.
This is a start, my Oracles. Take this tricks. Take these tools and slay your dragons. I know you can.
Writers are readers, inquisitive about the world around them so they can create another. If you’re stuck in process of creating an WIP and become discouraged, take a break. Fill up that blank time with a book.
The most insufferable thing about writing can be all the things you want to write, or running out of steam with a WIP that you were Gung-Ho about.
Utterly frustrating.
However, don’t dispair.
Here are three things you can do about this:
1.) Take a break from the work. Rest is the best energizer.
2.) Change the POV. This may grant your more flexibility in plot, character development or setting.
3.) Revamp. Sometimes the main plot and the subplot are at war–you want one more than the other. Try making the subplot the main plot. Don’t be scared to challenge yourself.
There’s something amazing about having a space to create, to write or brainstorm. Writers are obsessed with space. Blank pages. Empty tables and notebooks. We have to have space!
The beautiful thing about a writer’s space is that you can make unique to your talent or even a project. The space, your space, should facilitate creativity! Favorite things, scented candles, even favorite writing quotes. Take the time to construct the space.
The one thing that is on my Christmas list for this year is growth!
If you like what you see here, if you believe there is a topic that needs to be discussed, let us know! Email us at sgwritingservices@icloud.com!
Also, I am looking for more indie authors and publishing houses to share some light with in the upcoming year! Writing can sometimes feel like an exercise in futility, but I want to share light and space with as many people as I can! If you have book you’re marketing or an author I should be aware of use the author’s name or project in the subject line!
I wish you happy writing, easy but furious brainstorms and extended battery life on your laptops!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Shekinah Glory Writing Services!
There is something to be said about writing, and then letting other people read that same writing. This brings me to the subject of submitting your work.
Hold on. Let me get the smelling salts.
Get off the floor.
Remember, I’m hear to help.
Writing is a great hobby, and is also a competitive sport. The idea of sending off a thought to someone else to get validation (or publication) is horrifying. It’s horrifying thinking someone can read what you have researched, conjured and written–and with a blink call it nothing.
There is so much that goes into writing that submission seems like that last thing on your mind. It seems the scariest thing is to let someone else read your work! However, let me help you again.
Two things:
1.) Writing is a craft, art and a profession.
2.) On some level, all writing is subjective.
This means there is an audience for your work, and you have to find it. And if there is n audience, they deserve to read it. They deserve to read your genius, your suspicions and your recorded joys. Someone wants to see it. What you must confront is why you won’t let anyone to read what you’ve created.
There are things you may be working on that no one may ever see. There may be things you are working on where you may just need the confidence to allow it to be seen. Writers can be some of the biggest control freaks on the planet! We want everything to be perfect. From grammar. To syntax. To content. Asking a writer to submit something?
Man. From writer to writer? It’s hard.
It’s hard enough to be a writer. Having a writer give glimpses to their work? Monumental. It doesn’t make you less of a writer if you don’t submit your work. It doesn’t make you an elitist as a writer to have your work submitted and published!
There is no grand moral. No shaming. No swift kick in your writer’s butt. I leave you with encouragement. Keep writing, dear ones. The first audience is you, the next is the world.
JBHarris Writing Services 