This Year's Theme Will Be "Facing My Fears. "

Facing your fears takes courage.   This week or rather this year, I will be facing my fear of writing. 

Even if what I write is not good.  The only way I’m going to progress is if I write.  That’s a cliché I know.  But it’s also the truth, one that I am willing to face now. 

Every time I sit to write, even if it’s to journal, my writing improves. The other thing that helps is reading.  Every time I read, I see how authors use different techniques. How they describe things, and set up plots and much more.  My writing is not as amateurish. But it’s not publishable yet either.     

The other thing is to face my fears of feedback.  The critiquing group members put themselves on the line by submitting their work for our inspection.  We have had some really good discussions about how to make the pieces work.  Our writing has grown by facing this fear.  It does get easier the more we do it.    

 The last time the critiquing group gathered, I finally read some of my own work. Until then I did a good job of letting others read and received the feedback, however I wouldn’t read.  I found every excuse not to. They told me I had to read and that I better have something prepared.  I did, and I learned it really wasn’t that bad. This next year there will be no more excuses.  *Fingers crossed*  (Hopefully I'll keep this resolution.)

The hardest part of writing is learning how to revise.  The group is realizing that truth as we go along, and as time goes, the writing process will get easier.  In the mean time we are navigating the novel writing process together.  

I just read a great article from Writers Digest.  10-ways-to-harness-fear-and-fuel-your-writing

I'm going to use this article to help me face my fears of writing and learn to recognize when I'm doing it, and how to get myself out of it.  It should be an interesting year.   

This is what I tell the writers of my critiquing group.  Write because you love it.  If what you are writing is fun it won't be so hard to write.   

Are you scare to write?  Do you have trouble facing your fears.  Are you afraid of success or failure?  Read the article and then keep track of your progress as I am.  We can face our fears together. 

Until next time. 

Writing, Writing, Writing:

I have a confession to make. I’m a new writer. I wanted to do something that will allow me to write and a way to advance my writing skills. I mostly write fantasy fiction so I wanted to write more along the lines of fiction but real, regular people in true to life situations. I had seen a few other blog storylines and wanted to try. I developed an idea and I even talked to a few writers regarding it. I felt good about everything. I wrote up a cast post and a first episode and launched the blog and Facebook page. I linked it to this blog. After a little while I was unsure about the writing. I needed a second opinion.

A few weeks ago I met a young lady at a writers group that I attended. We hit it off, and she was looking for a critique group. I did belong to another critiquing group that since has disbanded. We decided to help each other out. Well we had a big miscommunication and almost became enemies.

Both of us being professional we cleared up the mishap and we are back to critiquing each others work. Part of the problem between us stemmed from my storyline.


A few days ago I asked my mother and brother to take a look at it. Both hated it. They had a lot to say and I listened with open ears. I had been thinking about making changes anyway. This is exactly what I needed.

So I re-wrote the story and started at the beginning. That’s where I went wrong the first time. I started about six months in the future right in the middle of everything. In starting at the beginning, I will get a better grasp of the characters and what they are doing, how they relate to each other and to find an overall arc for the story.

In starting at the beginning, I cannot bring the story to where I was. I have to look at what came before all that. Here comes the fun part. It’s called surprises. What I really enjoy is this process right here. Even though it is hard and I have to stop often to think about things, but when I pick up again ideas come to me and I get excited and encouraged about the story.

I’d like to start over on the storyline Three Ordinary Lives. I wanted to launch it but in reality was not ready to.

The story will start off with one person Tara Evans. She works for FitzPatrick Insurance, in the claims department. She wants to have a restaurant. Tara is a loving mothering person. The way she nurtures is through food. She likes playing around in the kitchen trying new recipes and dreaming of her restaurant. Her husband, Kyle is an engineer; they have been married for 10 years. No children.

I will bring in other characters and their stories along side Tara’s later, and I will bring in a bigger subplot. I hope you like the changes. I may change the name also. I still have some stuff to work on before I launch it again.

Failure can be taken in different ways. I choose to take it as a positive. I’ve learned the value of waiting. If you want something bad enough something it best to wait until you are ready for it.

How do you feel about failure or success? Tell us your story and how you look at it? Share your story and bond with others. Until next time.