Conquering the fear of writing

By Doug Wilhelm
Writer

From about middle school on, when we start to grow self-conscious, people very often become scared to write. We may dream of writing, and long to express ourselves and see our words in print, but we can’t get past the fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a simple, two-stage approach to writing that can allow you, if you want to write, to produce stories, essays, poems, or anything else without getting all tangled up in feeling you can’t do this well enough.

I know that fear. I have it all the time! Writing is a risk, and it feels especially risky if you want to try something personal or different or creative. It’s not that the fear of taking this chance goes away. It’s that you learn how to get past it.

Here’s how:

We write best when we approach it in two phases: First, producing a draft, and then revising it. (Teachers often break this down into more phases, including “prewriting,” but never mind about that for now.) We actually have two sides to our brain, the creative and the critical.

The creative mind is on the right side, and the critical, or analyzing, mind is on the left. Our creative mind is looser, more childlike, and wants to take chances on self-expression. Our left side – the analyzing, critical side – is more adultlike. It wants things clear, orderly and just right.

Most of us know the inner voice that says: “This isn’t coming out all perfect and brilliant. You’re a bad writer!” That’s where people get stuck. But this is only the critical mind getting in the way of writing’s first phase.

Write fast

There is a way to set that voice aside for a while, so your looser, more inventive, risk-taking mind can give you a first draft.

How can you do this? Simple: Write your first draft fast.

Many writers work this way. I always try to (though I don’t always succeed). Drafting fast tends to leave behind the critical side, because that mind is more slow and painstaking. It also tends to release your creative, less critical side. You then invite your critical mind back for the revising phase, to help fix up your draft and make it excellent.

Would you like to try it? If this works for you, it’s an approach to writing that you can use for the rest of your life.

Draft quickly; revise slowly

First, let’s choose a place to start. (Before actually writing, it often is important to do prep work or prewriting, which includes doing any needed research and developing your ideas in a way that will work for you. But for this exercise, we’re setting that part aside.)

Choose to either write a personal expression or tell a story. Either is fine. This is just an exercise or experiment — there’s no wrong way to do it.

If you’ve chosen personal expression, you’re either going to start each paragraph (each group of thoughts) with the words I wish.
If you’d rather tell a story, then first you’re going to give us a person — any person, real or made-up or a mix of both. You’ll introduce this person in some simple, natural way, then make something happen to them. Or make them do something. That’s all.

Choose either of those now, okay? Whichever looks good.

Here are examples of how you might start:

Personal expression:

I wish I could remember my dreams. I always wake up thinking “That was such a cool dream, got to remember that” — or maybe I think that right before I wake up — but anyway, five minutes later it’s gone. Totally.

How can I have a fantastic imagination when I’m asleep, but then basically none when I’m awake?

Telling a story:

Robbie liked Saturday mornings best. What kid doesn’t? He couldn’t stand to get up early on school days, but on Saturday he was up by seven and he had the TV on, then he went and fixed some cereal, and life was good.

Only this Saturday, when Robbie clicked the remote ... nothing happened.

Ready, set, go

Ready with your own choice of how to start?

Now give yourself 10 minutes. It’s best to set a timer, if you can — or ask someone to tell you when time’s up. That way you won’t worry about the clock.

When you’re ready, start writing steadily ... and try not to stop. Keep going! Don’t worry! You can always make changes or take stuff out later. If you’re not sure what to write, write “I’m not sure ... I’m not sure,” until something happens. If you just try, something will happen.

In 10 minutes, you’ll have a first draft. It doesn’t have to be good or complete — because now comes the second, fixing-up phase. Just go back to your draft and work with it. Do whatever you want. Throw parts out, add stuff, move things around. Your first draft is like warm clay. You can mold and change it however you want.

When you’re done, you’re done. You’ll probably know. If you’ve let yourself loosen up to write a first draft that really came from you, then you’ll care about it — and you’ll want to make it as good as you can, in the second phase. You’ll want to get the words just right.

That, basically, is what writing is all about.