If you're not scared, you're not doing it right?

[The Judge]

Ah, crystal, that I can understand, but to me that's not fear. I certainly do suffer from wanting my work to be better, from frustration at its not reading as it should, at its not being perfect. It's debilitating, certainly, and there are times I struggle to get the words down, but I'm not frightened of it, just depressed that I can't do as well as I want and I feel I should.

I think it's perhaps a question of semantics. To me fear is something very different from anxiety or lack of self-confidence or a need to be a perfectionist. Fear is having a very large man shouting at me across the desk and thinking he was about to hit me; fear is knowing that if I make a mistake someone might lose her children to the state; fear is thinking I've not done enough to save a woman from her thug of a husband. I've experienced those and others. Writing my novels can't make me afraid.

 

[crystal haven]

Yes, I agree, The Judge, everyone has a different perception of fear and what it stands for. But I still feel it is possible to have fear of writing, which is internal - our own fear. I can lose confidence to the point where a fear of writing sets in.

The fear of not doing enough to save a woman from her husband is not fear for yourself, but fear for others - it is still an internal emotion. You are not going to be hurt, so why are you scared? Is writing so different? It can't hurt us, but we can be scared of it. Sometimes emotions do strange things to us.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Scared? Hell, no!

But: the patience to go through the creative process for years, and the ability to self-criticise to the nth degree, both seem appropriate.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

The closest to fear I've felt when writing, or about my writing, is being afraid an idea my be beyond my ability to write just now. Say a story that's too complex or requires a finesse I don't think my writing has gained just yet, sure. But fear per se? No.

 

[HareBrain]

I would expect anyone to be anxious when having their writing critiqued or when submitting it. Like others, I also sometimes worry that I won't do my ideas justice (or that my ideas aren't that great anyway) -- I worry particularly that I will make, or have made, a subtle wrong turn early on that will hobble the whole thing.

But someone just starting out in writing should have no fear at all, because it should be play. I'm not sure it's healthy for anyone to start writing their first stories with the aim of showing them to anyone else. If they turn out well, then yes of course. But to put that pressure on yourself when you've no real idea how well you can write is crazy. Would you start learning the guitar with the thought that before too long you'll have to stand up and play before an audience? Would you start oil painting with the thought that whatever you daub on canvas will have to be exhibited?

 

[Peter Graham]

No, no, no. I'm not confident at all. I worry about my writing all the time. I'm just not scared of it. 'Scared' is the word I think is absolute pish.

Hear hear!

If I am arrogant for not being frightened of sitting at my kitchen table and enjoying my hobby, then so be it. For what it's worth, as a lad I was never scared of making Airfix Spitfires or oiling my bike chain. So perhaps arrogance started young.

But couldn't one turn the assumption on its head? Perhaps the arrogance lies in assuming that the desire to write is indicative of a fragile but magnificent creative power. The writer isn't just writing because they enjoy it, they are writing because the gods have picked them out as the custodians of tales that must be told. The weight of expectation lies heavy on their shoulders and it is only natural that they should fear this great burden that is theirs to bear or die in the attempt.

Regards,

Peter

 

[Venusian Broon]

Now maybe a very experienced and well respected author can be confident of their ability to do all these things. But for most to make the assumption that they can is, as I say, quite possibly arrogance.

I'd go further and state that a certain amount of arrogance or 'vibrant self-confidence' is in fact a very useful trait for an aspiring author - if your goal is to eventually publish.

I've not been attempting to get stories in print for long, but the rejection folder is already filling up. What makes me sit down and pen a new chapter or short after the rejection letter cames in?

Let's put it another way. There are already hundreds of thousands of novels in the world as we speak, published and available. Why should we aspiring authors think that we can add something of value to this vast library of fiction?

I can only speak for myself and see two big reasons:
1) I thoroughly enjoy everything about the creative process of writing. This is a pleasure in itself, so that if that was all it was it would still be fulfilling but...
2) I have to believe that my fiction is unique, (will be eventually) well-written and enjoyable for others to read. Perhaps this is arrogance, but tempered with self-criticism and careful development you must have the confidence to get there in the end.

Fear just doesn't come into this - it's too negative an emotion for creativity.

So I'd believe the following instead:

If you're scared, you're not doing it right.

 

[Coragem]

Well, we're not all sitting at a kitchen table enjoying a hobby. I do love writing, but I know that I have to push myself to an absolute limit, to "torture" myself at times, in order to truly do it well.

That scares me.

And while aspire to being published one day (why not?), even if that weren't the case I'd push myself to a 'scary' degree. I owe it to myself and to my characters and to the family members who support me in my work.

Sometimes some of you around Chrons do seem arrogant. Maybe you're all just far cleverer than me, so you don't need to work so hard in order to write to a high standard? Maybe you're "above" the emotional highs and lows that, for me, are part of creating? I doubt that, though.

All that said, I agree that too much fear isn't good! Which is why I focus on positive thinking, developing the confidence to let myself go. Normally once I get into the writing, once I'm immersed, any apprehension does disappear. It's maybe beforehand that I worry.

Anyway, I'm in good company. Below, a quote from a Guy Gavriel Kay interview. (A quote I've posted before.)

Coragem.

At least I no longer go through what I did at the beginning of my career which was feeling every morning when I sat down that I'd never again write a coherent paragraph. That would be a daily occurence early in my career, feeling that I had written the last good paragraph of my life. It doesn't happen any more. By now, I'd have to be pretty insecure and pretty masochistic for that to still be the case. But I do have an underlying anxiety that sharpens me. By the way that applies as well to the stage and public performances like readings and talks and so on. I never work out exactly what I'm going to say at the beginning. When I get up in front of a microphone in front of an audience I do not know what I'm going to say.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The writer isn't just writing because they enjoy it, they are writing because the gods have picked them out as the custodians of tales that must be told.

Whether stated with tongue in cheek or not, I absolutely relate to that statement, for good or ill.

 

[mithril]

But someone just starting out in writing should have no fear at all, because it should be play.

Hear Hear

I'm not sure it's healthy for anyone to start writing their first stories with the aim of showing them to anyone else. If they turn out well, then yes of course. But to put that pressure on yourself when you've no real idea how well you can write is crazy.

It's crazy yes, but you do want to get there.. when you can show them to people whose opinions you respect... So I think that should be the motivation for improving your skills and craft. But thinking that I have to publish something in a year or else I'm no good... That's probably crazier?

 

[HareBrain]

It's crazy yes, but you do want to get there.. when you can show them to people whose opinions you respect... So I think that should be the motivation for improving your skills and craft.

I'd reverse it, and say that improving your skills and craft should be the motivation for showing your writing to others. But if you aim right from the off to submit your work for critique, there's a danger that you will never develop your own voice, because you will always be writing with the impression of someone critically looking over your shoulder. Later on, this can be valuable, but in the "play" stage it isn't.

But thinking that I have to publish something in a year or else I'm no good... That's probably crazier?

Within a year of starting to write seriously? Absolutely it's crazy. Why would you think that? Have you read somewhere that good authors always publish within a year of starting out?

Even if you mean that you've been writing for a while and need to publish something within the next year, it's still bonkers. You're letting the vagaries of the marketplace alone determine your quality as a writer. Bah to that.

 

[mithril]

I'd reverse it, and say that improving your skills and craft should be the motivation for showing your writing to others. But if you aim right from the off to submit your work for critique, there's a danger that you will never develop your own voice, because you will always be writing with the impression of someone critically looking over your shoulder. Later on, this can be valuable, but in the "play" stage it isn't.

That makes much more sense from my newbie point of view...

About the 1 year deadline thingy, I think I heard someone say that you need some 'quitting criteria' if you are thinking of doing something risky, like starting a new venture. That made sense to me at the time. However I figured that the 'quitting criteria' should be something much more realistic and not something like 'have something that's of publishable standard within the next year'...

I suppose if your writing skills are improving, it doesn't make any sense to quit. But how would you figure out a 'quitting criteria' and should you even have to? I'd think keep at it till the process is enjoyable is a good enough guide?

I think I have not been as clear as I wanted to ...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think if you're writing to meet a criteria, it's putting a lot of pressure on yourself. I set out with a time scale in mind and an overinflated sense of my abilities, and have been happy enough to downscale both over the last couple of months or so. I just wish someone had said pretty much what HB's said when I started to make a serious attempt at writing last summer.
I do hear a lot from my wider family etc who know I've put a lot of time into it, when are you ever? Or how are you getting on with your little hobby? (the last little hobby I had which took up so much time was my job... )
I've now taken to saying it's not a hobby, it's here to stay, and lord who knows?

On a related note, any time I've switched careers it's taken me several years to get past the point of having ability to becoming expert and I suppose this is much the same.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I suppose if your writing skills are improving, it doesn't make any sense to quit. But how would you figure out a 'quitting criteria' and should you even have to? I'd think keep at it till the process is enjoyable is a good enough guide?

Unless your goal is to make a living from your writing (gulp! good luck if it is) then I don't see what use a quitting criteria will be. Perhaps if you are a goal-orientated person and thrive under the pressure - then maybe that'll work for you. However if that's your strategy I'd try my best to find what appears to be realistic. (One year from a standing start seems way off).

What does sound crazy -

The implication that right at the start your just not enjoying it. Being a little bit of an oldster and done a few things, I'd say that life's too short to be doing something you dislike.

Oh and further crazy talk (in my eyes), as also as I keep seeing this in the threads, the view that you must suffer for your art*. Perhaps I'm just a happy person deep down so I really don't understand this view. The stereotype of the tortured genius, probably with mental problems, wailing and gnashing his/her teeth as they produce their celestial vision I find a dangerous myth. But then again, if that's what you need to do to work, fair enuff. It's a free world. David Bowie cuts up words and picks them at random to make songs and that works for him.


* The corollary in science is that it is expected that scientists are weird ("'Cause you've got to be a bit mental to be a genius, right?"). Hence many scientist I feel do nurture and develop a strange sort of weirdness perhaps because society expects them to.

 

[Vertigo]

Hmm sorry been offline for a couple of days.

Firstly I'd like to say I'm not really scared of the consequences of writing in the sense that most have been posting them. Sure, I’d like people to like my writing and as any of you I don’t particularly want to look a fool. But that’s not what I was trying to get at. Now I don’t really want to, but I’m about to get a little melodramatic/airy-fairy/idealistic, so apologies in advance.

Firstly, when I put a thought or idea into writing it changes, it becomes something different. It is no longer a private thought it is now public. Even if you don’t intend anyone to read what you’ve written they now could. Somehow that changes those ideas; makes them more important.

Secondly (and this is where things get a little airy-fairy) the written word is probably the most powerful tool that has shaped human history. Sure Journalism probably has more influence than any other form of writing, but, nevertheless, fiction does influence. Now you might think yeah sure, maybe Shakespeare and such like but I don’t pretend to be in that league. But actually, since the written word became the printed word, ‘high-brow’ authors probably have less significance than ‘low-brow’. The reality is that how books like Mills and Boon romances (no offense intended) are written probably has more social influence on the population simply because more people read them. For example, if they all present a world that is male dominated then they will encourage such a world.

So with the written word comes a responsibility and it is (in my opinion) a responsibility that should be feared. Not in a debilitating sense but enough to give you respect for both the good and the damage that you can achieve through words. This is a healthy fear; one that should actually encourage you to write.

Heck, I did say I would get a bit idealistic didn’t I? Someone pass me a pint of Tetleys!

 

[anivid]

Such responsible attitude can only be applauded – but don’t forget to have fun J

 

[Bowler1]

No one mentioned the amount of time involved or the grumpy partners when I started writing again a year and a half ago now. Or the riased eyebrows when I talk of year(s) to come without any success. My next WIP won't be ready for any submission until next year and even then I plan to sit on it and polish away. I have a planned second which will be another year before it goes out into the world!

Hold up, why am I doing this again?
Yessss, fun! How could I forget?
Are we all MAD??

 

[Venusian Broon]

No one mentioned the amount of time involved or the grumpy partners when I started writing again a year and a half ago now.

In the alternative universe where you had not sat down and started writing, would you be the grumpy partner?

Hold up, why am I doing this again?
Yessss, fun! How could I forget?
Are we all MAD??

As SF&F writers, I think a certain detachment from reality can be a great help. Not tooo much though

 

[Susan Boulton]

I suppose if your writing skills are improving, it doesn't make any sense to quit. But how would you figure out a 'quitting criteria' and should you even have to? I'd think keep at it till the process is enjoyable is a good enough guide?

Question: Unless the process is enjoyable from the get go, why do it?

Writing, for the most part is not going to make you rich or famous. You have more chance of being hit by a bus

Write, enjoy writing, only quit if you feel it is not for you. Same as if you took up surfing and decided that honestly you didn't like the feel of sand between your toes.

Don't set yourself goals, just take it one day at a time.

As for being frightened. I wasn't until it began to become, 'serious', then I started thinking,'can I actually do this again, not only that improve my skill at the craft?' I have had many a headless chicken moment during the research and writing of my current WIP, knowing so much is riding on it.

 

[Vertigo]

Such responsible attitude can only be applauded – but don’t forget to have fun J

Fear doesn't preclude fun, it is fun.