Is FEAR and AVOIDANCE Keeping You from Taking ACTION?

When it comes to taking ACTION, FEAR and AVOIDANCE can be your worst enemies.  Join me as I discuss how to conquer your fears by taking ACTION!

Taking ACTION: Scratching the Writing Itch

I haven’t written in a few days and absolutely need to scratch the writing itch for the time being.

I’m sitting here in a local coffee shop watching the cars whiz by as the wake of a recent ice and snow storm lights up the surrounding area with its brightness. (To see pictures, click here.)

I’ve been considering creating yet another side project in addition to my novel in progress and a new ebook I’m working on about goals and goal setting.  It’s based on a website I keep seeing mentioned in blog posts, on podcasts, and appearing randomly as I surf the web.

It’s a site called Wattpad, and, from what I understand, it’s a place where you can create your own stories in series form, similar to Stephen King’s original concept for his novel The Green Mile and (even earlier) the late, great Charles Dickens’ first novels.

The Quest for “Writing Release”

The question I posed to myself when considering taking on this new project is…

Can I come up with a story idea and stick to it weekly, monthly, or whenever the release schedule is on Wattpad, while still attempting to work on my various other writing projects—my blog, novel, goals ebook, etc.?

I’m mainly considering this form of “writing release” simply because it seems like I’m doing more reading about writing than actually writing.  Or else, reading through my manuscripts of both my novel- and ebook-in-progress and proofing them, which gets no new writing done but only addresses writing that has already been done.

And then there are still other avenues of writing I’m pursuing such as:

• Personal/Business journal entries
• Experimenting with the writing exercises in the book The Writer’s Lab: A Place to Experiment with Fiction by Sexton Burke
• Re-writing various short stories I’ve written in years passed in order to publish them on my blog or use them for critiquing material in a couple of local writer’s groups I’ve been attending.

Don’t get me wrong, the more I learn about the intricacies of writing, the more I want to experiment with and, most importantly, create new writing works.  However, I find most of my works revolve around non-fiction, but I would much rather be working on fiction and honing my storytelling skills.

Your Worst Enemies for Taking ACTION: FEAR and AVOIDANCE

I think everything I’ve discussed above can be summed up in one word: FEAR.

If I could choose a second word, it would be AVOIDANCE.

I seem to be avoiding writing fiction in favor of non-fiction because with non-fiction, I am more confident sharing my past experiences versus having to create entirely new stories, worlds, and characters in fiction.  If I am to be true to myself, I have to admit that this avoidance all boils down to one thing:

I’m afraid that what I write will be set in stone, as if I have no right to go back and polish my stories to be the best they can possibly be.

It seems the solution to this—as is the solution to many of the world’s personal and general problems—is to take ACTION and move toward the thing you fear the most.

Do it Scared!

Face your fears and you’ll begin to see that they’re really, in essence, all bark and no bite.

YOUR FEARS ARE BLUFFING, SO CALL THEM ON THEIR BLUFF!

I see now that this break from my everyday researching and working to just simply write has been worth the effort.  Yet, it’s still a work of non-fiction, and I must take the plunge and commit to writing new works of FICTION, even if they only end up exciting me and no one else.

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[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”1599637057″ gallery=”1″]A great book to inspire you to take ACTION in your writing![/AMAZONPRODUCTS]

Question: What’s holding you back from taking ACTION on the things you most enjoy doing?

Leave a comment below and tell us all about it.