Good Ways to overcome acute Writing Anxiety?

Thank you for the thread, I can relate. Lately I find myself wanting to edit the plot of an 86K story I wrote last year. I know the character could turn into a series, but I'm going back and forth on needing to tailor it more to a genre.

<Enter left anxiety> but what if, but what if?"

I spin around until my head seems frozen and I get the general idea that I could use a push in one direction or another, but am unsure who I should ask.

<Enter right low self esteem> it's a crappy story anyway

I don't want to give up on the character. As much as I need help with grammar and syntax, I know I need to work through my own issues in order I create a world that doesn't have my problems.

I use a cheat: POV characters.

When I start to doubt whether a chapter is working, and I don't know (or don't believe I know) how to progress that part of the story, I move on to another chapter, following another character following a parallel path that will eventually coincide with that first character.

This gives me a little insight into where I want to get that first character to: eg. in my story, Larkspur, deuteragonist, is summoning the One-Eyed God, who is the main antagonist, in order to get to his home universe. Gecko, the protagonist, has been kidnapped by a figure known only as the Lord of Bones, and is presently in Larkspur's universe. How do I get both characters where I need to be?

* The Lord of Bones is a red herring. The reader is to think he's the antagonist, but the truth is, he's working for Colin, Gecko's father and secondary antagonist.
* Colin is in turn, working with One-Eye, and is trying to get Gecko to join him.
* The point I need to reach is that Larkspur is going to kill Colin, who will die thinking he was in the right, and everyone should be grateful to him. Gecko's last words to his father will be, "Yeah, you were a real saint."

So while I don't know how to get Gecko there, I think to myself: how does Larkspur get to that point? Well, that's easy. One-Eye brings him to Colin. And now I can work on that, and let my Gecko chapters stew for a little while.

I strongly recommend you some breathing exercises, this is a good way to say to your brain: "relax buddy, everything is fine, we're not under any threat"

This helps you to stay in the present, being in the present is the best gift you can give to yourself, i'll explain it briefly; you see, when we divague in the past, we feel sadness but the past is over and we can't do anything to change it; in the other hand, thinking about the future creates us anxiety, we don't have any control about what will happen in the future, in your case you don't know if people will hate your history, certainly YOU DON'T KNOW IT, no matter how hard you try to figure it out, so, being in the present allows you to focus on what you have right now, no anxiety, no rashes, no catastrophic endings and being free of all those negative feelings will allow you to think more clear about your novel and will allow you to be more realistic about what does flow right and what doesn't.

Another ninja tip i can provide you is, every time you feel assaulted by those thoughts, ask yourself: it is really bad? it is really will be a disaster? it will really people hate this? what are my proofs about people will hate this? am i completely sure about this won't' work no matter what i do?

I know it can sounds a little stupid but questioning our thoughts is the best way to think more proactive because most of the times we have automatic thoughts which lead us to live and act in a way we hate. Knowing this can give you more control about your mind and having it as friend instead of enemy.

I hope my advices can be useful

i'm a christain so i pray and then read the bibble my favorite verse is be anxious for notting

MKnightium said:

I've been working on some things for a while, major works namely, and every time I think I reach a certain point, my anxiety flares up with it, asking things like "does it flow right" "will people enjoy this" or the 'personal favorite' "are you sure this work"?
...

...because said anxiety caused me to delete about 50k from the novel because I felt it wasn't right...

Click to expand...

Wow, I am hoping you still have that 50K somewhere-- that is a huge chunk. Did you start with an outline? If this was my situation (it has been) I would re-outline the novel. Take a week. This is where a program like Scriveners would pay you back (not an advertisement). It is possible the 50K words "belonged" with the novel, but at a later or earlier time with some "missing" section in between. So, you have 8 sections (I am just brainstorming) written. maybe (section 1) goes second, (section 5) goes next, and you are missing the explanation for how the characters got from (sections 1 to 5).

Really at the first draft, the work will look funky anyway. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You are in charge.

Your specific questions are, I am sure, the questions most writers have, so everyone has ways to deal with these questions (like will people like the story, etc.). I guess self-trust comes through practice and experience. Just keep working in other words. Also, we do know that people who like one kind of literature generally expect similarities throughout. If you are a crime thriller fan, you expect certain things to happen. So I would say take a reading break-- get GOOD recent novels in the genre you are writing in, then read and study that stack of books. Writers must also be great readers. If you are not reading (at least) a book a week, then you are not keeping up with your field. I was remembering somewhere I read that Stephan King wakes up and reads for an hour or so before he sits down to work on his own manuscripts. The more you read successful novelists, the more you internalize their tricks and methods.

That is what I would do. Read more.

The biggest help for me has been accepting that my work will never be perfect, and will never even be the best that I can make it. There will come a point that it's good enough to share, and that's all it is. If someone doesn't like it, you think a) you could have fixed that, but you didn't. That's all it is, it says nothing whatsoever about your worth as a writer or a person. b) that person could be wrong, they are not a perfect writer either. c) different taste is absolutely a real thing! Just like with food, something that makes one person want to vomit will be someone else's heavenly treat.

I'm going to reiterate — never delete big chunks of your work. It might not be as bad as you think at the time, and even if it is, you can use it to remind yourself how much progress you're making. Also, if it's really gone, anxiety can just as well use that to make you feel you made a horrible mistake. Anxiety is not your friend. Don't let it tell you what to do.

I recommend watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb-H-qZCsuw
She really helped me "chill out".

I have had acute anxiety for years -- in fact, I took pills for it at one time-- but after learning more about it, I have been able to categorize it differently. For instance, I recognize the anxiety as 1) imposter syndrome-- the feeling that "I am not supposed to be here" which started (and still goes on) because my family is abusive and every time I have ever tried anything, I have been told I am too stupid to do it, and someone else does it. When I do something, like graduate from college, or go camping in the woods with people I don't know well, I find that the anxiety is reduced by "accomplishment." So, "trying new things" is likely to "train" yourself to take new experiences or uncomfortable situations in a healthier way.

2) is that I did not understand that how people learn new skills-- anything-- is that they activate neurons in the brain and this newness can provoke feelings of fear because the situation is unknown, and the unknown makes us scared. The next few times you do the thing the fear gets less and less until the thing being done is absorbed into the neurons as an old and comfortable experience. Think of something like driving on freeway interchanges in a big city. It is actually very dangerous, and when you don't know how to get to the off-ramp, don't know when to switch lanes, etc., that can cause a lot of highly anxious moments. But after you have made that same trip a few times, you can do it without thinking much about it.

So for me, the main causes of anxiety are imposter syndrome and trying new things (the unknown). I am sure other people have different "reasons" but I always think there is a reason, not just anxiety for no reason without a cause.