BY ITUMELENG MOLETSANE
Fear of failure can stifle creativity in novice and seasoned writers alike. Here’s how to combat it.
Maya Angelou once said, ‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’ It must have been self-doubt – a burden many writers feel – that led such a seasoned writer to utter these words.
Writers who don’t share that burden risk abandoning their God-given craft – some even die with piles of unread pages. This is why holding conversations and sharing your work with other writers is so important: it opens the door to feedback and lessens the harm self-doubt can cause.
So, rather than wallow in an emotional pit of despair, share your work. Swift and reliable feedback will help you suffocate the fear of failure and keep you honing your craft.
The battle against self-doubt can’t be fought single-handedly.
You can’t be alone in your endeavour to overcome self-doubt. You need to understand that, as the renowned author Thomas Mann attests, ‘A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.’
Just like you need a physician when you’re ill, you ought to know where to turn in times of doubt.
To conquer your fear, not only must you write (a lot!), but you should also read advice from other writers. Many writers have written articles that provide techniques for dealing with self-doubt and can help you build a road map to becoming a more successful writer.
Read more:
- Four Habits of Successful Writers
- Overcome Your Fear of Publishing Your First Blog in 5 Steps
- And Now We Wait … An Author’s First Experience of Getting Published
Self-doubt has a resurgent nature!
Self-doubt rears its head time and time again. To a writer, it’s like a physical hunger; you may have a brief respite when you publish your work, as excitement temporarily replaces your doubt. But it will likely resurface as soon as you start writing something new.
However, there are valuable lessons in facing self-doubt when it strikes.
Just write, in spite of it.
About the Author
Itumeleng Moletsane has been writing part-time. But after completing a course of Writing Articles for Websites and Blogs with SA Writers College, he is seriously thinking of pursuing his newly polished craft. He doesn’t think that starting to work on a book is a far-fetched idea anymore. But for now, he’ll concentrate on shaping his blog. When he is not at his desk, he works in his cleaning material business
