by Jenny Hansen

We writers are a fascinating bunch, and we routinely have to navigate through emotions like fear.

We voluntarily spend hundreds of hours making up people, putting them through terrible situations, and then agonizing over whether we've described their worlds and their emotional trauma with enough accuracy and wit.

Think about the badassery of that for a moment.

We invent entire worlds. Entire worlds, y’all. With rules and hierarchies, politics and magic.

We learn all the important sentence-y / grammar-y rules, and then ruthlessly kill our darlings.

We willingly subject ourselves to critique partners, editors, agents, and Amazon reviewers. We take good and bad reviews (mostly) on the chin, like the warriors that we are.

Yet sometimes we are terrified of opening the document we worked on yesterday, because we’re afraid that it sucks.

Welcome to the corner of FEAR and FINE.

This is one of the most popular intersections in Writer Land.

It’s got tons of traffic, horrifically deep potholes, and terrible parking. And many of the writers loitering here are remarkably reluctant to move.

FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real

FEAR is that helpful little voice in your head that takes a perfectly ordinary writing moment and turns it into a drawn-out situation.

You haven't heard back from an agent? Clearly, they hated your manuscript.

Your critique partner suggested changing a scene. Couldn’t they see why your protagonist had to behave that way? Or you might start to worry that you are actually a hack with no talent.

Your latest chapter isn't working? Well, that's it. It’s been edited eight times. Maybe it’s time to delete the whole manuscript and take up painting.

That kind of FEAR can color every choice you make. Worst of all, it can keep you from sharing your work with others. Sometimes, this imposter-style FEAR can make us consider a "more realistic career path."

The FEAR Trap

FEAR is wonderfully creative. And it uses our boundless imagination against us. It takes a possibility—usually a super remote one—and dresses it up as a certainty with plenty of evidence.

Because we’re writers, with a highly developed ability to imagine catastrophic outcomes, we’re especially susceptible to FEAR.

We're professional what-if people.

• What if the book doesn't sell?
• What if people hate it?
• What if I never finish?
• What if I finish and nobody cares?

My personal favorite: What if I actually succeed and then have to do this all over again? (That’s usually my over-tired ADHD brain talking.)

FEAR doesn't even require an actual disaster. We can manufacture it out of thin air on a bad writing day.

The problem isn't that we're afraid.

Let’s face it, fear is actually normal. Nerves are a sign that we want to do well.

But I think the problem is two-fold...

#1 – We have to be vulnerable.

With every story we write, we’re shouting, “this is who I am.” Writing asks us to put pieces of ourselves on a page and invite strangers to have opinions about them. Of COURSE that's sometimes super uncomfortable.

#2 – Sometimes we worry that we suck.

Even the best writers do this. The feeling is strongest when we’re new, but every writer has a day, a scene, a character, or a chapter that just won’t behave.

Take a moment to watch my FAVORITE writing video if this is a FEAR you struggle with.

The real problem begins when we treat FEAR's predictions as facts. I promise you that whatever fraught-filled problem you’ve talked yourself into, it’s solvable. Go call your writing friends, or come commiserate with us in the comments section.

FINE: Feeling Inadequate, Needing Encouragement

Now, FINE is a different creature altogether.

FEAR throws a tantrum. But FINE is often worse. FINE smiles politely and says, "Everything's fine."

Someone asks how the writing is going. "Fine!"

How's the new book? "Fine!"

How are you handling the revisions, the rejection, the deadline, the marketing, the social media, and the crushing realization that writing a book is apparently only the beginning of selling one? "Fine, thanks!"

Meanwhile, inside your head, a scurry of writing squirrels is fighting over acorns.

FINE is also a Trap

FINE is what happens when we feel inadequate but don't want anyone to know.

Maybe we think everyone else has figured out some magical writing secret we missed. Maybe we're convinced real writers don't struggle with the kinds of problems we’re struggling with. Maybe we're afraid that asking for encouragement will make us look needy or weak or something else that makes us feel like we’re impostors.

So we smile, nod, and insist we're fine. Which is a shame, because encouragement is one of the things writers need most.

We don’t need someone telling us every sentence is a masterpiece. We need the kind of encouragement that says:

• "Yep. I've been there."
• "That Act II is always a beast."
• "Your first draft doesn't have to be pretty."
• "Have some chocolate. Then go write the next paragraph."

Usually, we don't need another craft book, or a stern lecture about discipline. We need another writer to look us in the eye and say, "Oh, honey. ME TOO."

Moving Away From the Intersection

Here's the thing about FEAR and FINE: Neither one is evidence that you aren't a real writer.

They're evidence that you're a badass human doing something difficult, creative, and occasionally ridiculous.

The trick is recognizing when one of these has moved into your head and started rearranging the furniture. Early recognition is how you kick them to the curb before they jack up your writing room.

When FEAR shows up

Start asking questions like, “why am I really getting wound up?”

Several years ago, I watched a writer chat between Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jayne Ann Krentz that was so illuminating. Because it happens to the NYT bestselling authors too.

When they get a bad review, one calls the other to vent…and to set a timer. They gave it twenty minutes, before they were required to move on to something tangible. And in the way-back (before digital everything), their final answer to a bad review was: "Throw it away! Get it out of the house."

There's a substantial difference between "My book was rejected" and "My book was rejected because I'm a talent-less hack who will never be published."

One is an event. The other is your imagination writing a disaster movie.

When FINE shows up

Don’t try to navigate it alone. Writers need writers, and FINE is one of the biggest reasons why.

When FINE shows up, call a trusted writer and tell them what's actually going on!

You don't have to unload your entire emotional junk drawer. Just open it a crack.

• "I'm stuck."
• "I'm discouraged."
• "I could really use a pep talk."

You might be surprised how many writers immediately pull up a chair. This amazing community is full of people who have lived at that same intersection at some point in their own writing lives.

It takes courage and clarity, and a good writer support system, to make sure we don’t stay there. Your story is too important for that.

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About Jenny

By day, Jenny Hansen provides brand storytelling for businesses via Storyselling for Success. By night, she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction, and short stories. After 20+ years as a corporate trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

Find Jenny here at Writers In the Storm, or online on Facebook or Instagram.

Top photo generated via paid ChatGPT.