I figure writing is a lot like being on stage. We create this thing and put ourselves out there and hope people like it and if we’re really lucky, love it. We hope our work inspires and stays with others for a long time to come.
So it would seem that stage fright is normal, wouldn’t it? I ask myself: is my work good enough? Solid enough? Interesting enough? Do the characters come to life? Does the plot make sense? Does the story have enough tension? Is there adequate resolution? Can I call it finished and submit it?
Writing can be a scary business, can’t it. Maybe not the writing part, but the bit that comes after.
It’s a leap of faith. Almost like taking a long walk off a short pier.
Dreaming in Character 
January 29, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Sometimes, it seems like a leap in so many ways: not only are we exposing our minds and hearts to the big, bad world so to speak, but also the act itself is a leap with that serious question that always seems to plague my mindsteps: can I reach the story I want to tell? Is it worth it if I don’t quite make it?
But it is worth it. It’s worth it because no matter how inadequate our words seems sometimes, someone out there may be moved by them and feel their day or life is better for having read them.
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January 29, 2014 at 9:37 pm
That’s a poetic way of putting it! I appreciate that.
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February 4, 2014 at 4:35 pm
Whenever we do something creative and put it out for others to see, we do that leap of faith. And it can indeed be a very scary business. But we keep doing it in spite of that – I hope. I agree with Liana, if just a single person is moved by our long walk off a short pier, it’s worth it. Great post.
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February 4, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Thank you, Otto. I think it’s time to reread Art and Fear. If nothing else, it never fails to remind me I’m not alone feeling this way.
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February 4, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Art and Fear is a great book for exactly that. 🙂
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