Why am I such a chicken?

I generally write short fiction, but the same rules apply here. I see writing as a hobby next to my job/education. If you look at it like that, for me at least, it's lots less terrifying.

You might also try writing short fiction first (if you haven't done so already). It teaches the basics of story telling and it usually takes a lot less time to finish a short than it takes to finish a novel. Having a finished product in hand you can sell is an enormous confidence booster.

If you're passionate about writing then just sit down and do it. Nothing is ever lost. Even if it doesn't sell, you'll have learned something about the process. A lot of writers never sell their first novel, so you wouldn't be in the minority if yours didn't. It takes some self-belief to dedicate yourself to something as time-heavy as writing a novel, but if you don't believe in yourself and your capabilities then no one else will.

You might try reading some websites/books on writing, or perhaps outlining. Personally, I found that doing preliminary work before I started writing my novel gave me a lot more confidence when I actually sat down to write. Because I'd researched so much (I even looked up agents/publishers), I knew all the basic rules of writing, I knew where my story was going, and I knew what was expected of a professional writer in the publishing industry. Because of all that, not only was I was aware of what I was getting myself into, I also had a clear path to follow. It felt less like stumbling through the dark in the hopes I'd churn out something publishable, and more like having a goal and knowing exactly what I'd need to do to give myself the best shot at achieving it.

The whole experience was way less daunting than I thought it would be. It's taken 8 months of my life so far, which, in the grand scheme of things, is nothing. Some people have been doing it for 20 years. I've just started querying, and I don't know if I'll be successful first time round, but I've given it my best shot and I'm glad I decided to follow my heart. I've prepared myself as best I can with the time I've had so far, and I know that even if it doesn't happen for me right now, I'll keep trying until it does. I'm sure that if you really want this, once you take the first step, you'll never look back.

Good luck!

jasperd said:

I've always wanted to be a writer. I mean since before I could actually write. I remember Judy Blume coming to my school for Authors Day. I got to talk to her personally and I told her how much I wanted to be an author.

I've known my whole life and I always put it off or danced around the "task" of actually sitting my butt down and writing a book. WHY!? I am just so afraid of the time and effort it will take. What if it doesn't even sell? And don't kid yourself by telling me that writing should only be done out of the love of writing. Every writer wants their book to sell...

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How are you going to find out if it's going to sell or not if you never write it?

I'd rather take the risk and find out than spend the rest of my life wondering, and that applies to everything, not just writing.

jasperd said:

My teachers, my family, everyone has told me to do it but I'm so scared. Does anyone else feel like this?

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No. Well, I don't.

jasperd said:

...I guess my reasoning is if I never do it at least people will think I "could" have been a great writer. How lame is that? Okay.....angry, self-loathing rant over.

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People won't think you 'could' have been a great writer if you never even try. They'll think you were someone who didn't try.

jasperd said:

I've always wanted to be a writer. I mean since before I could actually write. I remember Judy Blume coming to my school for Authors Day. I got to talk to her personally and I told her how much I wanted to be an author.

I've known my whole life and I always put it off or danced around the "task" of actually sitting my butt down and writing a book. WHY!? I am just so afraid of the time and effort it will take. What if it doesn't even sell? And don't kid yourself by telling me that writing should only be done out of the love of writing. Every writer wants their book to sell.

My teachers, my family, everyone has told me to do it but I'm so scared. Does anyone else feel like this? I guess my reasoning is if I never do it at least people will think I "could" have been a great writer. How lame is that? Okay.....angry, self-loathing rant over.

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Yes. The potential seems like a diamond. But, if you act on it, it disappears and you're judged on the results of your effort. What if you aren't any good? Right now, everyone thinks you absolutely should be a writer; what if later they say, "Whoops, he really should have stuck to plumbing and landscape."

I feel this same way now that I'm only a few days away from starting the rough draft of my new work, which is very important to me. I console myself this way: real failure is not trying. Real failure, real losing is basking in potential.

Good luck to you. I hope you sell a million. If we still are in this group when you publish, I'll be one of your first readers.

I spent eleven years as a filmmaker. A lot of time went to reading books on the subject, writing screenplays, and making short films to learn the craft. I spend more money then I like to admit and stopped myself from getting a real job because it would have cut into my filmmaking time, so I worked menial part-time retail jobs. As I got older, I realized being a filmmaker really wasn't what I wanted. Writing was always my favorite part of the process; the area I excelled at. I decided filmmaking wasn't for me, and that I should concentrate my efforts on writing.

At no point have I regretted my work as a filmmaker, even though I was never close to breaking into Hollywood. I gave it my best shot and parted ways on my own terms. I truly believe that if I hadn't given it a shot, I would've regretted it for the rest of my life, always wondering what I could've accomplished.

IMO, there's no such thing as "becoming a writer." You either write or you don't. If what you want to do is write, then sit your butt down and start working on a novel.

You sound normal to me. I don't think it's a fear of failure, but rather a fear of success. Spin it that way, take a look at what is meaningful to you, take a look at why writing is meaningful to you, and listen to your peers. I don't have ANY cheerleaders in real life telling me I should be a writer (in recent years, my mother has gotten better at this), so I've had to focus on the negative (proving people wrong). In your case, you'll be able to say, "you were right." To me, that's a great focus and motivational drive.

There's that old quote "writers write."

Undertaking anything new that matters to you can be scary. Failing at a dream can be scary. But what's the worst that can happen? You write and it sucks? So what? Do you know how many books are on the market that suck? Writing is subjective.

If you feel passionately about it, write and see where it goes. The more you write, the faster you'll improve. And if you don't suck? Then you still write more and improve. No one got their driver's permit and went on to win the Indy 500 the same day. Writing is just like any other skill. You try it, you see where your weak spots are and you do things to make them stronger. They're called first drafts for a reason. Writing is fluid.

Just write what makes you happy. Forget the fear, because you never have to show anyone if you don't want to. No one writes because it's the quick and easy way to success or stardom. They write because they love it and can't imagine not doing it.

jasperd said:

My teachers, my family, everyone has told me to do it but I'm so scared. Does anyone else feel like this? I guess my reasoning is if I never do it at least people will think I "could" have been a great writer. How lame is that? Okay.....angry, self-loathing rant over.

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You don't have to be a great writer to write or enjoy writing.

I don't think anyone person is any one thing. To reference the TV Show taxi, I think it was Sam who said every driver here is a writer or an actor or a whatever. I'm the only one that's just a taxi driver.

To me that’s a very good line. I've been writing novels since I was 17. It’s been eight years and I've done 4 unpublished works. Since then I've gone to a 4-year college and had 4 jobs. At some point hopefully some of the work will get published and at some point I could live off of that but if you do the math it doesn't look as pretty.

As an example it seems to take 1-2 years to get a deserving book published. From what I've read most writers can’t live off their writing until the 4th or 5th book. So you have anywhere between 5 to 10 years before we can live off our work.

So have a backup plan Have another career that makes you happy and pays the bills. If involves writing even better. But in the meantime, keep writing!

I hate to quote a shoe commercial but:

Just Do It...

What happens happens.

"No victory without sacrifice." Archibald, Ron, and Sam Whitwhiky--Transformers.

You haven't even started. Jump in there. You're going to get caught up and enjoy the ride in spite of yourself. I dare ya.

tri

Everyone has given you great advice. The only thing I'd like to add on is that you really should just write for yourself and not worry if it's going to sell or not.

It is a scary thing, but that doesn't make you a chicken... It just means you're having trouble jumping over that first hurdle. When you've hit on that perfect plot idea (if you haven't already) you may have to force yourself to sit down and begin. You'll get into a routine and eventually your confidence will build. You'll start to believe in yourself and before you know it you'll be an honest-to-goodness writer! More than likely you'll have fits and spurts of successfulness mixed with thoughts of suckiness (my thoughts always go back to what if I fail? and what if all this time and effort are for naught?). But the key is picking up the pen (or poising over the keyboard) until it starts pouring out of you. You won't know until you've tried. Good luck!

You must have caught me when I'm in a bad mood,
because I'm going to be real blunt.


Do you want to write?

Or do you want to be ****!! AN AUTHOR !!!*** ?


Wanting to be ****AN AUTHOR*** and never sitting down to write
is like wanting to be ****A FOOTBALL STAR*** and never actually getting bruised and dirty on the field,
or wanting to be ****A PRIMA BALLERINA*** and never getting the first bloody blisters from your toe shoes.



If you do not go out and toss a football around for the joy of it, then you are in love with the idea of being a football star and not with the game.

If you don't love the process of writing, stop being seduced by the word 'author' and go do something you do love.


The thing that keeps this from being blighting -- and I don't want to be blighting -- is that your bliss may be as an editor or agent or reviewer or librarian or publicist or bookstore owner or Professor of Literature or any of the fifty roles that feed your love of writing but are not 'writer'.

Can I quote the dozen or so people who've already advised you to just write?


Just write.


If it's crap on the first try, don't worry. You're on an awesome forum whose members will help you out along the way. There's a ton of information here on AW that will teach you at least the basics.

My first novel? Didn't even try to sell it. Of course, I was twelve. Didn't try to sell my second, either (I was fifteen). There's a learning curve. Don't worry about the competition yet. You need to have a book in order to sell one.

You don't mention your age. But my guess is your're still fairly young. Let me suggest that the little "nerd within" that actually does our writing for us knows that you don't yet have the experience and "weight" to write a killer novel. So he's waiting for you to grow up.

Meanwhile, while you're waiting, you should be doing what you need to get ready for the time when you have something to say and a good idea of how to say it.

You do this by writing other stuff. Journals, essays, articles for internet sites, little stories or articles for school or community papers, a private collection of short fiction that might someday make a nice collection.

Try doing a public reading. Go to a poetry reading or open mike of some sort and stand up in front of the inhuman ego-rapists tha go to them and read your work. See how it goes. If they like it, then what are your afraid of? If they boo you and throw rotten fruit on you, well, you'll just have to work harder at showing those fools up, won't you?

I say this instead of "Just Do It" because sometimes it's hard to understand just what you're doing or why. You're writing stuff to prepare the field for your Writer Within to do his stuff. It's kind of not just sitting around waiting for True Love. Everything you do prepares you to deal with it when the time comes.

There is only one way to find out if you are a writer, and it isn't sitting around agonizing about it. Since everyone else here is throwing around quotes, here's mine: Shit or get off the pot.

I hope you go for it, and if you do, we are all here if you need anything.

And my advice, unlike Dustry Joe, is:

Just do it.

After all the philosophy, after all the worry, after all the talking about it, in the end, you have to just do it. Even if "just doing it" is some of the things Dustry has suggested.

Everyone here has given you great advice, listen to them. I just want to smack you upside the head as well. Because you need it.

You have become too comfortable nursing your fear. It's an excuse people can understand, it's an excuse that sounds romantic and makes you feel like a tortured artist. In the end, you have to just do it. Face the fear. There is no other way.

jasperd said:

I've always wanted to be a writer. I mean since before I could actually write. I remember Judy Blume coming to my school for Authors Day. I got to talk to her personally and I told her how much I wanted to be an author.

I've known my whole life and I always put it off or danced around the "task" of actually sitting my butt down and writing a book. WHY!? I am just so afraid of the time and effort it will take. What if it doesn't even sell? And don't kid yourself by telling me that writing should only be done out of the love of writing. Every writer wants their book to sell.

My teachers, my family, everyone has told me to do it but I'm so scared. Does anyone else feel like this? I guess my reasoning is if I never do it at least people will think I "could" have been a great writer. How lame is that? Okay.....angry, self-loathing rant over.

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Quite possibility you are paralysed by How To Write, and Where To Start!

If so, the Uncle Jim thread here is a great place to start. You might also want to read Dwight Swain's book.

The technical aspects of fiction can be particularly bewildering to those with a strong imagination, who find it almost impossible to read a book with detachment sufficient to analyse it.

johnzakour said:

I hate to quote a shoe commercial but:

Just Do It...

What happens happens.

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Ditto. Whatever works for you. The 'just do it' for me can often be forced, but I am happy to give it a go even so. I find the 'what happens happens' as a natural approach in leading me to a rewarding effortlessly attempt. You're already on the road, and your admitting that your scared. That's the forefront to the next step, you are braver than you think in acceptancing your trials. Write only if you feel, and not because others are in theatre for you. You are not the audience, remember that. Not of course you set yourself, the task of being there. Good luck.

Setting yourself up for possible failure is always scary. But forget about the everybody's telling you this or that. At the end of the day it's all about you anyway, and how would you feel when you're on your last days looking back at your life and griping -I could have been a writer? In these matters it's better to regret the things you did than the thing's you were too chicken to do.

Sounds like a perfectionist's problem

There are two solutions: either
a) roll your sleeves and get to work, accepting that your first draft is probably not going to be the diamond you envision yourself producing;
or
b) wait until you cannot live without writing (see Dustry Joe's comment above).

I always wanted to be a writer (among other things), but did not write until age 31. So?
Do it when you are ready. It is not a competition.

Best of luck!
Rose

First of all, I believe that if you write with only publication in mind, you're already setting yourself up for one hell of a reality check. If you're writing because you love to write, and fully expect the first draft to be more crap than gold, you'll find that it isn't as scary. Besides, what's the worst that can happen? You've got pages of crap. So what. You will find with each rewrite, you end up with less and less of the crap and more of the good stuff. The football/ballerina analogy is perfect - Peyton Manning didn't start out as Peyton Manning - he had to work and improve and get rid of the bad habits and all the crap.

And yep - you never know if you don't try. Cheesy, but true. You can spend the rest of your life wondering, "What if..." or you can get over it and find out "what if." Don't make excuses. Write.

Yup. Job nailed it right on the head.
Do you want to be an author or a writer?
When you are a writer you write. You call yourself a writer and that's what you do whether your "real" job is something else. It took me years to actually finish my first novel and it's likely that will never see the light of day. My third one got published. I still am a writer. That's what I do.

Wanting to be an author without BIC is the same as a person who wants to wear a beret and sit in coffee shops and call themselves an artist without doing any of the necessary study...