The dreadful, Awful FEAR of Failing.

Greetings intrepid readers!
Today I take a break from my fascinating career as a tabloid reporter in the halls of mount Olympus. This is for two reasons, (A) it is very hard to continually outrun Zeus and his thunderbolts (apparently freedom of press isn’t a popular idea among the ghastlies) and (B) I have a statement to make to all would be writers out there.
You see, I have noticed a perfectly awful trend among people who would dearly love to become writers and authors and that trend is FEAR. Yes, so many people are AFRAID to become writers because they reckon if they actually take the step of sitting down and grasping their pen and ink or smacking away at their key boards they will FAIL! Yes, they will write AWFUL books that no one EVER WANTS TO READ (I write this in capitals because in my experience this thought is ALWAYS in capitals inside these people’s heads) but here’s the thing, if you have a book inside your soul, then you owe it to yourself to give it life. Maybe it will be a best seller, maybe it won’t be. Maybe it will be the greatest novel anyone has ever written, then again, maybe it will end up torn up in a cat litter box. Oh dear, I shouldn’t have suggested that, now you’ll all just worry about that awful idea won’t you!? I’m so sorry!)

Anyway, why am I so certain that FEAR is keeping a lot of people from writing books? Because I struggle with it myself. Every time I sit down and write I wonder (in horror) is this good, is it bad? How on earth can I tell? I also have the joy of worrying if the spell check on the computer is going to collapse all of a sudden. This may not sound like a worry to you, but believe me, when you have dyslexia this is quite a thought worth worrying about!

So why do I keep writing? Because, quite simply, I have too. Regardless if my stories are good, bad or mundane, they are mine. No other human in the whole world can write exactly and completely like ME. And nobody in the whole world can write exactly like YOU.
So, if you happen to be longing to give writing a go then you just give it a go. Maybe people will read it and say “Oh the plot is so weak!” Maybe they will say “What one dimensional characters!” Some particularly unimaginative person is sure to inform you that “you don’t need a comma there!” But the one thing they won’t be able to challenge is THE FACT YOU WROTE IT!
Some wise person once said that “Perfect love casts out fear”. They were right. If you really, truly want to write stories, just give it a go. Once the love of writing hits you, the fear of failing starts to hunt for the door.
Happy writing! TR Winters