I came across a blog post about the five fears that keep writers from writing. They helped me tremendously. And they might help you, even if you don’t write.
My greatest fear, I think after reading this post, is the fear of mediocrity, which “manifests itself as perfectionism.” The Copyblogger writes…
Writer Dorothy Parker couldn’t meet a deadline to save her life, because she said for every five words she wrote, she erased seven. Our fear of mediocrity manifests itself as perfectionism, and perfectionism prevents us from simply putting things out there and resolving to get better over time. With that approach, we fail to achieve anything at all.
Right now, if I think about it, I’ll realize that this article is never going to be good enough, no matter how long I spend on it. In fact, what the hell am I doing writing a blog anyway? Is this what I was put on this planet to do?
Then I take a deep breath, and move on to the tips for dealing with the fear of mediocrity.
No one will ever be perfect, so let it go. Action beats inaction every time. Accomplishing anything feels better than accomplishing nothing.
This is the biggest reason I write slowly or not at all. The biggest reason it takes me two years or more to put out a record. And I’ve always been this way. I remember a parent teacher conference in the sixth grade with Mrs.Kensington. She told my parents I did well on my tests and seemed to be smart enough to do the work but I hadn’t turned in about half my assignments. The reason I gave? They weren’t good yet. “Yet” is a favorite of mine.
I need counseling. No, seriously. I need to figure out where this pattern started and how to stop it or I’ll get nothing done. And getting nothing done, ironically, makes me something worse than mediocre.
Like I said, helpful article.
What’s keeping you from writing, living, traveling, going back to school, quitting school, changing jobs, starting, finishing, or whatever?
Nancy Tyler says:
Find a counselor who does teleseminars, wouldja? Then I can dial in and get some help with you, because all of those fears in that article are causes of paralysis for me. Especially mediocrity. I absolutely can’t stand to be just “good enough” in my writing and in some other things. Head games. I hate the head games.
All but one of the people I asked to hold me accountable for one particular project (which has been held hostage for a year by my fears) have given up on me. And I gave that one, brave soul the runaround last Sunday when she tried to get me to talk about the project. Ugh.
cool dad says:
Praise God that since I turned 30 last year, I started pursuing and committing to one of my dreams: writing a movie screenplay. Now, I’m a few weeks away from having it done, ready to put out there. Some reasons off the top of my head as to why this happened:
1) God making it clear that He wants me to do this. I find obvious inspiration around me frequently.
2) Telling a ton of people around me that I want to do this. I wish I could call it as something noble as ‘accountability’ that has driven me since, but moreso I didn’t want to look like a quitter after telling so many people.
3) I’m a cynic. I feel that there is so much out there movie-wise that’s mediocre, that I might stand a shot.
4) I trust my judgment. Since I’m so much more cynical than those around me, I think that if my work passes my standard, than it must be decent.
So, I guess egotistical sarcastic jerk with delusions of grandeur. Then again, I want to be a writer. I should have issues, right?
Pam says:
Good practical advice from Cityblogger. My take on a couple of areas mentioned:
If you want to write, just write, honestly. Worry about the editing later.
If you write to please everyone you’ll please no one. Be brave, be honest…and you’ll connect.
Don’t make your writing a litmus test of who you are… although principal stand, thoughts change daily betweens moods, circumstances and additional information at a later date. Allow yourself to be human (and humans are not perfect).
Now go write that book.
cool dad says:
By the way, that’s supposed to say “I guess I’M A egotistical sarcastic…” Looks like I’ve got a ways to go.
cool dad says:
AN egotistical… jeez.
Biblefanmaryann says:
I haven’t shared any of my poetry with my youth group in several months, because someone very plainly expressed their opinion of my style of writing: “I hate that style of writing. It’s too basic.” That’s the only negative thing anyone’s ever told me about it, but I’m still really discouraged, even though I probably deserve it. Also I haven’t been writing as much since then. I want to though…
Terah says:
Hi-
The comment wasn’t critique, it was rude. It’s a manners issue. My gut tells me you have a lot to say and someone was probably jealous. “If I can’t do the thing you do better than you then I am going to try to stop you from doing it at all.” Winston Churchill once said,
“Never
never
never…give up.” Aren’t we glad he didn’t?
Go for it!
Terah
Nancy Tyler says:
Write, Mary Ann. There’s always going to be somebody who doesn’t like what you do. But that person only owns one opinion. They don’t speak for the world or for God.
My office started a blog and there are six of us who write for it. It’s a nice little blog–friendly, helpful, well-written. It’s not aimed at sophisticated bloggers; it’s aimed at everyday people who need consumer help.
We got a number of scathing reviews from major bloggers who thought we were too basic and not edgy enough or they hated our agency and trashed us because of it. But more than that, they focused on us as individuals and made some really scathing comments about our bios and photos. Big, national bloggers. I’ve been writing online for the last 8 years or so, so I laughed off the meanness and tried to see, between the snarky comments, if there was some truth we could learn from. And there was.
A couple of the younger members of our blog team were really hurt and discouraged. But see, those stars of the blog world still only get one vote apiece in the universe. And the talk brought more attention and visitors to the blog. So they ended up doing us a favor by mentioning us.
You write, Mary Ann. What you have to pour out of your heart and onto the paper is valuable, critics or not.
chrismo says:
I’m not a pro counselor, but I’m generally good at getting to the bottom of things. I picked up some stuff from my own trips to the crazy doctors. Y’all can call me and I won’t charge you a thing.
Biblefanmaryann says:
^^Thanks Nancy. That really was encouraging. I just have to write; I can’t stop even if I try! Maybe I’ll be ready to start reading it at my youth group again when they start back up in January.
Nancy Tyler says:
You go, girl! I’m one of those “have to” writers too. I’ve been writing since I was eight and haven’t found my “off” switch yet.
Jessica says:
Ugh. I am familiar with this phobia of mediocrity. This blog from a few months ago sums it up.
http://jessicathehardwaybowman.blogspot.com/2010/02/spiritual-salt-water-right-up-nose.html