“What have I gotten myself into?”

That’s the question I asked myself last year after I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I was kind of like all of my characters at the beginning of the book, you know? They all just kind of got involved in this humongous plot thinking it would be a fun adventure. Nope. Right before their would-be adventure started, they had second thoughts. But it was too late to back out. Either that, or they were there for a purpose, and their purpose was greater than their fears.

That’s what I want to talk about today. What to do when you hit obstacles (and this doesn’t have to apply only to NaNoWriMo). Not so much the physical obstacles, but the mental obstacles. When you doubt yourself. When your goals are too big to keep pursuing. When you realize you’ve set yourself up for certain failure.

Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

First of all, there’s no such thing as certain failure. Even when you’re a little hobbit carrying an evil ring into Mordor all by yourself. So, tip #1: Stop telling yourself you’ll fail.

You never know what you’re capable of until you try things. Seriously. Think about it. Say you’re a slow writer (like me). Say you’re a perfectionist (also like me). These two things by themselves are not all bad, but when both of them apply to you, it can take forever to get just the first draft written. Statistically, it’s actually impossible for you to write 50,000 words in one month. How are you going to do it?

Boundaries are key. If you’re anything like me as a writer, you’re constantly setting boundaries for yourself. Just to name a few, you say you can’t write a certain type of story. You say you can’t write enough words in enough time. You say that writing one book is hard enough, so how are you ever going to write a sequel to it?

Most of the time, these boundaries are flimsy walls that you’ve set up unknowingly. And you don’t find that out until you try to break them down. Speaking in terms of NaNoWriMo, if you don’t manage to write fast enough, who cares? You’re still writing! And chances are, you’re a better writer than you were when you started! And that is a reason to risk failure.

But wait. There are more obstacles out there. What about that other looming fear? The fear of rejection? After you get past your initial fear of failure and decide you’re going to try anyway, you run straight into another fear. What if no one else likes what you wrote?

Take J.K. Rowling, for example. Everyone knows who she is. I didn’t even have to tell you what book she wrote. It’s a little-known fact, but multiple (not just one) publishers rejected her manuscript before she finally got it published. And look at Harry Potter now. You may think that everyone loves it because it’s so popular, but that isn’t true. There are crazy people out there who don’t like it. (If you’re one of those people, no offense was meant.) The moral of the story is, even if you’re J.K. Rowling, you still have critics who don’t like your writing. There’s just no way to please everyone. 

For me, the fear of rejection is way harder to deal with than the fear of failure. In fact, I’m so afraid of rejection, that I hesitate to share much of the story I’m writing with anyone, even with my close friends and family. However… I did do something brave and create a new page for my blog dedicated entirely to all of my writing projects.

I’ve found that the best way to combat the fear of rejection is by just letting people read it. Stop editing to make it perfect and just let people read it. (Yes, hello to all the people I’ve promised to let read my manuscript: I will follow my own advice. My manuscript has a few holes in it, and unless you want to be really confused, you don’t want to read it yet.) Until you’re ready to query an agent or to self-publish, your manuscript does not have to be perfect. And, let’s face it. Even when it is published, it won’t be completely perfect.

I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to obstacles in writing, and there’s no way I can address all of them in one post. Besides NaNoPrep, I had another reason for posting this today. On Wednesday, I will have a very special post. This one serves as sort of an introduction, a prelude. I won’t be talking specifically about fears, but the topic will be similar. So stay tuned! I will also make sure to announce it on Facebook when I do post it. In the meantime, let’s talk about obstacles.

What’s the biggest obstacle you face while writing? Do you have any experience dealing with fear?

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