Not long ago I was on a Zoom meeting of writers. We spoke of recommended how-to books, how AI is impacting writing and whether or not we’ve used it, and then show-don’t-tell. When it came time to brag about our individual successes, one writer spoke of how she had talked of writing, read of writing, and attended events on writing, but not followed through to complete a project. She was up to 50,000 words on a book, and we all commended her. She’d been writing for years.

She admitted that the delay in writing came solely from fear of failure.

Zoom meetings, writers clubs, and social media conversations abound with people having reasons they have not published, are still working on a project after years of trying to figure it out. My guess is the grand majority of them don’t press forward due to fear of failure.

1) What if we spend all that time writing and nobody wants it?
2) What if we spend all that money self-publishing and it does not sell?
3) What if we set up signings and nobody shows?
4) What will friends and family think if we go through all this work and nothing happens?
5) What if we spend all this time on writing books when we could be spending it making more money elsewhere?

I could cover a full page with these questions. What I dare you to do is write down these (and other fears you have about this business of ours), and then answer them. Write the answers down.

Write two answers, frankly. Write the worst that could happen and the best that could happen.

Question 1) WORST CASE – You try to learn from the experience or quit writing and find something else that satisfies you more.

Question 1) BEST CASE – You try to learn from the experience or quit writing and find something else that satisfies you more.

Huh? How did that happen? Move on to question 2, then 3, and so on. I hope you realize that going through these experiences cannot help but make you experienced, wiser, and maybe even happier as you climb the ladder or choose another ladder to climb.

What you don’t do is stop and wallow in self-pity, worried about what other people think. Do, experience, and learn. That’s life, baby. That’s life. You cannot experience opportunity without showing up and paying to play.