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the Fear of Rejection in Order to Actually Start Writing

The key to becoming a writer is to simply start writing. If a writer stares at a blank page, stuck on his fear over how he will ever write anything that will impress others, he is only likely to continue staring at a blank page.

My advice is to (momentarily) take a step back from the project. Change the facts. Forget that there even is any audience; there is only you, the writer. For the rough draft, there is only one reader that matters - you. Step back and say: "This rough draft is only for me. I write it for no one else. Right now, I am the only audience that matters. And all that matters to this audience - to this reader - is that there are words written on a page. I, reader number one, will be satisfied with seeing a page that is simply filled with words."

If you are still stuck, then I would advise you to take an additional step back and remove yourself completely from the situation. Erase your name from the top of the page. Pretend as though your name is not at all going to be associated with whatever it is that you are writing. Pretend that you are Andy (or Annie) Anonymous. This work is not being created for the praise and glory of you. Write as though you will receive absolutely no credit for this work - for better or for worse. Sit down and get your rough draft going! You may be a horrible speller with poor grammar, with ideas that don't make sense, with characters that are static and flat, with a plot that goes nowhere; none of these things matter for your rough draft. All that matters in becoming a writer is that you start writing, even if this means grabbing words and throwing them Jackson Pollock-style onto a page. Your goal is to give yourself something that you can later re-work, refine, and remodel as the writing process continues.

Getting started is one of the biggest challenges that a writer faces. Getting over the fear of what others will think about what I have to say, and the possibility of rejection, is one of the biggest intimidating factors at work against a would-be writer. It is his own ego that gets in the way of our hero and keeps him from grabbing the pen and becoming a writer. By changing the facts, by removing the audience - and even by removing himself from the situation, these fears can be overcome, and the process can begin. Starting work on his rough draft, our hero scales the wall, navigates the fortress, passes the thugs, and makes it back out the door - a writer.

Learn more about this author, Nathan Higgins.
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