by Nathan Higgins

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: November 13, 2011

You have no doubt heard of the legendary pen that "freely spells forth words" and "spills ink onto the page in paragraph form". It sits under the protective housing of a glass case, locked away in a bank-style vault, guarded by a gang of four burly thugs, and is hidden away in a nearly impregnable fortress.

Our hero, the would-be writer, stands outside those walls with his notepad in hand. He scratches his head and wonders how he will ever lay his hands on that legendary pen and accomplish his dream of becoming a writer. For after penetrating the fortress, he would need to find the vault, subdue the guards, use the pen, and then manage to make it through a series of snares and traps before he would be home free again. (He could only hope that his manuscript would survive all these perils intact!)

Looking upon this scene, perhaps it seems to you as though becoming a writer is an action-adventure challenge. Perhaps becoming a writer is a never-ending search for some mysterious writing pen or some inspirational muse. Perhaps you, our would-be writer hero, believe that there are too many intimidating factors that stand in the way for you to become a writer.

In all actuality, the story is not the "action-adventure" that it seems. Really, the story is a psychological thriller. Most of the barriers to becoming a writer do not exist, except within the mind of the hero. (For, a writer is simply someone who writes; someone who collects thoughts and puts them down in fixed form.) The mind conjures up so many objections that our hero will never even take the first steps toward becoming a writer. These mental illusions, driven by fear, stand between our hero and the goal of becoming a writer.

What is the Biggest Fear that a Would-Be Writer Must Overcome?

Perhaps all fears could be summed up in the fear of being rejected. The would-be writer's own insecurities keep him from taking the leap, from scaling the walls, defeating the thugs, opening the vault, using the pen, and making it out alive again. He is trapped on the outside of the fortress, kept captive by fears, such as:

* "What if people don't like what I have to say?"

* "What if my writing is not so spectacular as to capture the attention of the entire world?"

* "What if people simply do not care about my chosen topic?"

* "What if my information becomes outdated after I write it?"

* "What if people become angry because of something that I say?"

* "What if people read what I write and say nasty things about my work?"

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