Ever tried to get over your fears? It’s pretty daunting, isn’t it? For
writers, I think there’s plenty of things to worry about, and possibly fear,
but I sometimes wonder if we project too much fear into our careers. Although
we do invest a lot of time, money, and hopes into becoming published and/or
making a bestsellers list, the fact is we’re not surgeons or cops or
firefighters dealing with life or death situations. Sure, penning ideas to
paper can have high stakes, but not on a daily basis.
Yet, many of us so passionately care about writing, being read, and earning
money from our words, that the deep caring can be crippling. For me, I
experience both fear of failure and fear of success to varying degrees. Most of
the time, they’re well under control, but occasionally the feeling threatens to
send me running. I start thinking about packing it in. But I then I remember
why I’m really doing this—the love of writing—and then the boiling point
relaxes to a simmer.
Doing a little bit of editing and/or writing each day works for me. Stamina
and discipline are two things I have going for me. But a blog from John
Athanasiou (HarperCollins UK), in which he lists the things that everyone in
publishing needs to succeed, gave me pause to think. Although the article might
be directed at employees of the publishing biz, I think a great deal of it applies
to indie writers.
Some of the things on his list I’m already doing, such as creative problem-solving.
Another great tip is called learning with agility. What he means by this is to not be
afraid to fail frequently and fast, provided that you learn from your mistakes
and move on.
Moving on quickly has been problematic for me. I stuck with the wrong agents
for far too long, sought the wrong types of publishers, and attended the wrong
types of conferences. I’m still learning to figure out how much time and energy
to spend on social media, and to drop strategies that don’t work for me.
In case you were wondering the other three tips Athanasiou offers are:
. Power Communication and High Emotional Intelligence
. Openess, Integrity, and Honesty (openness is sometimes difficult for me)
. Results-Driven Work
He offers clear, concise explanations of each, so I strongly encourage you
to visit his blog HERE. Meanwhile, time to get back to the results-driven work J
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