21 Oct 09 Overcoming The Fear Of Writing Rejection

Overcoming the fear is essential to any writer.  You just can’t work hard and be successful if you have the fear, because nothing you do will measure up to your anxieties.  OF course the fear I’m referring to is how your work will be received.  Many people are afraid to have other people read their writing because they can’t face rejection.  But if you choose to be a writer, that is an anxiety that you really can’t afford to have.  Otherwise you’d have a hard time making a living out of writing projects created only for yourself.

You have to realize that in most cases the fear, or anxiety that you feel could just be a fear of the unknown.  You haven’t put yourself out there and been rejected, so you don’t know how it feels.  Having that unknown component can make rejection seem worse than it actually becomes.

Try to combat this by writing within your strengths at first.  You’ll be more likely to produce content that you actually like by writing on subjects you know about first hand, or are in general very knowledgeable about.  Plus you’ll be able to write more effectively concerning information you’re already comfortable with.  Don’t push yourself outside your comfort zone in the beginning.

Get all the creative criticism that you can find, and take all of it into account.  This is a good step to help you really put yourself out there.  Try starting small, with friends or family.  Or even if that seems to embarrassing at first, try a writer’s website, where you can retain your anonymity, but still receive feedback.  This way nobody knows the writing is yours, or even who you are, and you can get the feedback you need to take into account, to grow as a writer.

From there, when you feel you’ve fine tuned enough, it’s time to take a deep breath and submit that first piece.  Whether it’s a story, or an article, etc.  The only way that you can get past your fear, is to jump headfirst into submitting your content.  Remember that you’re going to get rejected, it’s a fact.  Even the greats have gotten a huge portion of their work rejected in the past.  You’ll be no different.  Rejection is a huge part of the job, just learn to deal with being rejected, and move on.

Most importantly, don’t let rejection stop you.  Being a successful writer is more about how you deal with rejection than anything else.  So don’t let your fear stop you, because it’s hard to become a writer if you never put your ideas out there.

Tags: Anonymity, Anxieties, Anxiety, Comfort Zone, Conten, Creative Criticism, Deep Breath, Face, Fear Of The Unknown, Feedback, Hard Time, Many People, Overcoming Fear, Rejection