reframing creative fear

Creative fear takes many forms. It can sound like an inner voice that whispers, “What if they don’t like my writing?” or “What if they’re totally uninterested in my story?” or “What if they think my perspective is silly?” 

While all of these fears sound slightly different, at their root they all come from one place: fear of being judged. 

I agree with the writer Erica Jong, who says, “If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important.” In early drafts, I believe it’s crucial to imagine yourself writing in a kind of magical bubble where all that exists is you. In this bubble, you’re completely protected from the outside world and, thus, completely free to express yourself however you wish. 

And when fearful questions begin to rear their ugly heads in the bubble–as they so often do--a helpful way to reframe them is to switch the question-asking from being external (aimed at a mysterious, judgemental “they”) to internal (aimed at yourself and your own self-knowledge). 

So, for example, “What if they’re totally uninterested in my story?” becomes “Am I interested in my story?” “What if they think my perspective is silly?” becomes “Do I think my perspective is silly?” 

The advantage of reframing questions to be centered toward yourself is that you can actually find answers to those questions (“I’m very much interested in my story, and I think my perspective is intriguing”), whereas asking questions that apply to a mysterious “they” leaves us mystified, powerless, and trapped in a whirlpool of doubt.

As Brenda Ueland reminds us in her book If You Want to Write, the key to creative progress is not to fret about other people but to “try to discover your true, honest, untheoretical self.”

In your writing sessions this month, try a short meditation at the beginning of your writing session where you imagine yourself existing within a protective bubble. In this bubble, you're completely safe from judgment and your one and only goal is to get curious about discovering your true, honest voice. 

See if writing with this focus helps lead you away from creative fear and toward grounded intuition.