Writers in the Storm

By Piper Bayard
of Bayard & Holmes

In spy and crime fiction, one of the most common mistakes that my writing partner and I see is confusion about which organization does what, to whom, and where. As a result, our first goal in writing Spycraft: Essentials was to draw on my partner's 45 years of experience in military and intelligence field operations to clear up that confusion and provide a window into the top spy organizations.

While there are countless military and civilian intelligence organizations, some famous, some infamous, and some never heard of at all, we’ll focus on four of the biggest civilian branches because they are also the ones that most commonly appear in fiction:

• the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA” or “Company”)
• the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”)
• the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”)
• the National Security Agency/Central Security Service (“NSA/CSS” or “NSA”)

Overview of the "Big Four"

Central Intelligence Agency

Purpose:

To collect, assess, and disseminate foreign intelligence. The CIA does not set foreign policy or make foreign policy decisions. It treats the branches of the military and government as clients, providing them with the information they request and carrying out the tasks assigned to the agency. The CIA is and always was what Congress thought it was creating for the first time with the DHS.

Where the CIA operates:

Exclusively on foreign soil. Entire novels and TV series are premised on the notion that the CIA conducts elaborate surveillance and investigations of American citizens on American soil. (i.e. Homeland and Burn Notice). No. Even in the case of an internal investigation, such as the investigation of traitor CIA officer Aldrich Ames, the agency must contact the FBI and/or the DHS—depending on the foreigner’s activities—as soon as surveillance on American soil is involved.

What the CIA is authorized to do:

The CIA is authorized to gather intelligence on foreign countries and foreign individuals outside of the United States. The agency has its own employees, also known as blue-badgers because they carry blue government badges. It can also employ contractors (a.k.a. green-badgers for their green badges) and foreigners. Any combination of employees, contractors, or foreign agents can be involved in an operation.

Power to arrest:

The CIA does not have the authority to arrest anyone. They do at times detain foreigners in the process of covert actions, but the CIA never arrests people for the purpose of prosecution. To arrest someone on foreign soil for the purpose of prosecution, the CIA must cooperate with the FBI, which must in turn cooperate with the host country.

An example of this interaction is the arrest of the first World Trade Center bomber, Ramzi Yousef, in Islamabad, Pakistan. A US State Department employee found the relevant lead by passing out thousands of matchbooks with a modest reward offer printed on the covers. He turned over the information to the CIA, which located Yousef and kept him under surveillance until an FBI team could arrive in Pakistan.

The FBI executed a raid while the Islamabad Police waited outside the building. When the FBI brought Yousef out, the Islamabad Police performed the arrest and immediately turned him back over to the FBI team to be escorted to New York for formal prosecution.

Oversight:

The CIA reports to the National Intelligence Director, who reports to the president. The agency is overseen by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

As much as Congress and the president disavow their knowledge of CIA activities at times, the CIA has never operated without oversight from Congress and the White House. It is definitely worth noting that elected officials such as senators and representatives (i.e., politicians) do not have to pass so much as a polygraph, much less a security clearance, to sit on these committees that oversee the Intelligence Community.

This lack of security at the Congressional level has definitely caused problems for Intelligence Community professionals, some of whom no doubt feel at times like they are duct-taped to a chair while watching toddlers play with loaded guns.

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Federal Bureau of Investigation

Purpose:

The FBI was originally intended to be the federal government’s investigative agency. Now, the FBI investigates both criminal and terrorist activities and has offices in several overseas US embassies. Official priorities listed at the FBI website:

1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes
4. Combat public corruption at all levels
5. Protect civil rights
6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises
7. Combat major white-collar crime
8. Combat significant violent crime
9. Support federal, state, local and international partners
10. Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI’s mission

(Unofficially, the FBI is tasked with keeping suit manufacturers in business. The stereotype of the FBI agent as the quintessential G-man in a three-piece suit is very much based in fact.)

Where the FBI operates:

The FBI operates inside the US as both an investigative and a law enforcement agency. Outside of the US, the FBI assists foreign governments in investigations and conducts investigations of crimes against Americans and American installations. It also acts as a liaison to foreign law enforcement agencies.

What the FBI is authorized to do:

The FBI is authorized to conduct law enforcement and surveillance inside the US. Outside the US, it relies on the CIA for surveillance and must obtain the permission and cooperation of foreign governments for any US law enforcement activities on their territory.

Power to arrest:

The FBI arrests people inside America and, with the cooperation of foreign governments, takes criminals abroad into custody. Anyone arrested by the FBI will be processed through the US court system with all US civil rights afforded to them.

Oversight:

The FBI answers to the Department of Justice and the head of that department, the Attorney General. The president can and does speak directly to the Bureau, and the Attorney General and various congressional committees provide oversight.

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Department of Homeland Security

Purpose:

We’re not sure they know, and if they do know, they’re not admitting it. We are not actually being as flippant as that may sound.

Law prevented the FBI and CIA from operating effectively to avert terrorism in the United States in that the FBI and the CIA weren’t allowed to share most of their information with each other. This could have been fixed with a few changes in the law. However, Congress, never one to do for a dollar what could be done for $38 billion dollars, created the DHS.

Their intent in establishing the DHS was to set up an agency that could work with itself in order to prevent the next 9/11. Its original core mission was counter-intelligence in order to ensure a "homeland that is safe and secure," whatever that means. The DHS is still creating itself and being created by outside forces such as Congress and any given president.

Since its inception, the department has grown to include FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, ICE, Border Patrol, TSA, and more.  

Where the DHS operates:

DHS operates both inside the US and outside the US, supposedly with the cooperation of the CIA. That boundary is a grey area that has never quite been defined.

What the DHS can do:

The DHS can order surveillance on anyone inside the US for virtually any reason under the Patriot Act and its legal progeny. To spy on people outside the US, it relies on the NSA, the CIA, and other agencies.

Power to arrest:

Like the FBI, the DHS can arrest people in the US or abroad if it obtains the cooperation of the foreign country. Those arrested by the DHS in the United States have all the rights they would have if arrested by any other US police body, and they will be processed through the US court system. If the DHS nabs someone overseas, that person will likely show up in the US judicial system.

Oversight:

DHS has full department status and has their own department head, unlike the FBI or the CIA. The director of the DHS holds a Cabinet position and reports straight to the president and only nominally to the National Director of Intelligence.

This section is worth a summary:

DHS is a surveillance and law enforcement body with jurisdiction throughout the United States which can order surveillance on anyone inside the United States, US citizen and foreigner alike, for almost any reason and arrest them with virtually no oversight beyond the president. (Does that concern you? It certainly concerns us.)

In other words, when you want an organization to break all the rules and behave badly in your books, DHS is the logical one to blame, not the CIA, especially if the operation is domestic.

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National Security Agency/Central Security Service

Purpose:

Cryptology is at the core of the NSA/CSS. It’s the agency’s job to break foreign codes and set codes for the entire US government. It also listens to and stores foreign and domestic signals, including computer signals.

The NSA is famous in the Intelligence Community for being stingy about what it shares out of what it gathers. Other intelligence organizations, both civilian and military, view the NSA as a black hole where information and money go in and nothing comes out. In fact, it is undoubtedly the source of astronomers' models of cosmological black holes.

Where the NSA operates:

Most NSA employees reside and operate inside the United States, though they might travel to US embassies or foreign bases. Anywhere the United States uses secured communications, the NSA has the authority to show up and investigate to make sure that security procedures are in place. The NSA neither confirms nor denies having any facilities for gathering signals outside of the United States.

What the NSA can do: The NSA does not discuss its foreign and domestic intelligence-gathering operations; however, I would refer you to my PRISM articles listed below. In short, feel free to let your imagination run wild.

Power to arrest:

The NSA does not arrest anyone. Not ever. If someone shows up flashing an NSA badge, threatening to arrest you, feel free to shoot them or at least shut the door in their faces. They are a Hollywood crew and not NSA employees.

Oversight:

The question of NSA oversight has been afloat for many decades. They are supposed to report to the National Director of Intelligence and the CIA, but the CIA has never been satisfied with the NSA’s sharing of information. See black hole reference above.

Everyone in the NSA leadership serves at the pleasure of the president. As with the CIA, the president likes to pretend that he forgot that the NSA does what he tells it to do.

Do you have any questions about who gets to do what to whom in the real world? Are there any other Spycraft questions you'd like Bayard and Holmes to answer? Please share them with us down in the comments!

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Reference Articles

• PRISM Surveillance on Americans—What Price Convenience?
• PRISM—We Can’t Stop the Signal
• Why PRISM Matters
• Spooks Without Boundaries
• NSA: Hoarders, Cheaters, Dr. Phil, or Jerry Springer?
• America Is Not a Location--The Ultimate Price of Citizen Surveillance

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What do the main intelligence agencies do and where do they operate? How do they recruit personnel? What are real-life honey pots and sleeper agents? What about truth serums and enhanced interrogations? And what are the most common foibles of popular spy fiction?

With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths.

Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.  

“For any author, this is the new bible for crafting stories of espionage.”

~ James Rollins, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Demon Crown

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About Bayard & Holmes

Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes of Bayard & Holmes are the authors of espionage tomes and international spy thrillers. Please visit Piper and Jay at their site, BayardandHolmes.com. For notices of their upcoming releases, subscribe to the Bayard & Holmes Covert Briefing.

You can also contact Bayard & Holmes at their Contact page, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Piper Bayard, or at their email, BayardandHolmes(at)protonmail(dot)com.

by Lori Freeland

The comma. It’s a scrappy little mark—that’s often the bane of an author’s writerly existence. With every clause, the question becomes, to comma, or not to comma?

As an editor, I’ve had quite a few clients tell me they tend to stick commas in wherever they “sound” like they should go. It’s a trend you’ll find even in professionally published manuscripts. My inner editor always wants to post a warning on these books. Caution: Be on the Lookout for Random Raining Commas Ahead.  

On the flip side, I’ve had other clients tell me they have no idea where commas belong. So, they don’t use any. I’d post this warning on those books. Caution: Ambiguous Sentences Ahead. Navigate at Your Own Risk.  

Considering that your average, everyday author doesn’t have a degree in English, what’s a conscientious writer to do? If English was your least favorite class <raises hand>, you might not be too hyped about the answer, but I’ll share it with you anyway.

Put in the time to learn the basic comma rules and the “whys” behind them. Or at least learn how and where to accurately look them up.

Side Note: All websites are not equal when it comes to correct grammar and punctuation. I’ll share some great sites at the end of this post. And don’t rely too heavily on spellcheck (now called “editor”) in Word. It doesn’t have a degree in English either.

Avoid Comma Abuse

Let’s start with the worst offender. Never, never, ever use a comma to separate the subject (noun) from the verb. When you do this, you’re breaking up the basic definition of a sentence.

What is a sentence? A sentence is a group of words with at least one subject (noun) and one verb that has a complete thought. Basically, a sentence doesn’t leave you hanging.

Correct: The coolest thing about a unicorn is its horn.

Incorrect: The coolest thing about a unicorn, is its horn.

The comma in the second example separates the first part of the sentence from the second. “The coolest thing about a unicorn” (is what?).  And “is the horn” tells us nothing. Neither part makes sense alone. Both leave you hanging.

That’s going to be your biggest clue about where to add commas and where to leave them out. Tuck that information away for now, and let’s jump into some relevant definitions.

Sentences, Clauses, and Predicates, Oh My!

If this subheading is giving you nightmare-esque flashbacks to middle school English, no worries. Let’s take these one at a time.

A clause is a group of words with a subject and predicate that make up part of a complex or compound sentence

If you’re already shaking your head, let’s redefine in simpler terms.

A CLAUSE has both a noun and a verb and is part of a longer sentence.

There. That wasn’t too bad, right?

A SUBJECT is simply a noun (person, place, thing) doing the action.

A PREDICATE is simply a verb that tells you what action that noun is doing.

And because it’s going to come up later, an OBJECT is simply a noun (person, place, thing) receiving the action. Not all sentences have objects, and that’s okay.

Example: My sister (noun) drove (verb) a sleek black Porsche (object).

This is a simple example of WHO (noun) DID WHAT (verb) to WHAT (noun).

In case you were wondering, a complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause, and a compound sentence has two independent clauses.

Sometimes a clause can stand on its own (when it’s independent). Other times it can’t (when it’s dependent).

Still confused? Read on!

Independent Versus Dependent Clauses

What makes a clause independent or dependent? Think of clauses like small children. If they’re independent, they can get dressed and feed themselves without help from you. They can “stand alone.”

If they’re dependent, they can’t get dressed or feed themselves without help from you. They can’t “stand alone.” They’re depending on you for their survival.

If a sentence is independent, it doesn’t need help doing its job. If it's dependent, it’s depending on another part of the sentence to get the job done.

Hint: Remember, all clauses need a subject and a verb.

INDEPENDENT CLAUSES:

An independent clause can stand alone because it forms a complete thought.

If you “fuse” two independent clauses together, you’ll have a run-on sentence. It’s sort of like fusing two trains together—engine to caboose. Both engines want to “drive,” and that makes the “tracks” of your sentence hard to navigate.       

Incorrect: The wind blew the branches swayed.

Notice the two subjects (wind/branches) and two verbs (blew/swayed). When you read this out loud, you’re not sure where one part ends and the other begins. You don’t get the proper pause that gives a reader clarity. And you also throw a stumbling block into the path of a smooth read.

You can fix that run-on sentence two ways—separate it into two sentences with a period or add a comma after a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet).

Correct: The wind blew. The branches swayed. 

Correct: The wind blew, and the branches swayed.

Side Note: This is an example of a compound sentence. It has two independent clauses connected by a conjunction (and).

Here are some examples with the other conjunctions.

• The party ended, but no one would leave.
• We didn’t drive across town, for we didn’t have a car.
• Should we go to dinner, or should we see a movie?
• She didn’t like fruit, nor did she like vegetables.
• Today was their anniversary, so they went on a date.
• I wanted to know why, yet my brother didn’t care.

DEPENDENT CLAUSES:

A dependent clause can’t stand alone because it doesn’t form a complete thought.

Correct: The dog whined at the table while I was eating.

Incorrect: The dog whined at the table, while I was eating.

By adding the comma, you’re splitting up the sentence into two parts.

Incorrect: The dog whined at the table. While I was eating.  

Splitting this up doesn’t work. The first part (The dog whined at the table) can stand alone. It has a subject (dog) and a verb (whined) and forms a complete thought—

BUT

—The second part (while I was eating) can’t stand alone. While I was eating what? It leaves us hanging and doesn’t form a complete thought. It’s depending on the first part of the sentence to make sense.

Why do we even care about “while I was eating” then? It adds relevant information to the first part of the sentence. It tells us what was happening while I was eating.

WATCH OUT FOR: Don’t automatically insert commas when you see a conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet).

Don’t put a comma after the main clause when a dependent clause follows it.

Correct: Mom said the road was closed and that I shouldn’t drive on it.

Incorrect: Mom said that the road was closed, and that I shouldn’t drive on it.

Why are these not two independent clauses? The main clause (Mom said the road was closed) is an independent clause in that it has a subject and a verb and forms a complete thought. But the context is lost without the dependent clause (and that I shouldn’t drive on it).

We need both parts to fully understand the meaning of the sentence. We need both parts because Mom said both things.

Exception: Use a comma if you’re going for an extreme contrast and want the reader to notice.

Correct: Dad was still quite upset that I was two hours late, even though I promised to come straight home.

Clauses with Compound Subjects, Objects, or Predicates

Don’t freak out. Remember, a subject is just a noun, a predicate is just a verb, an object is just the noun receiving the action. And compound means more than one.

Don’t put a comma between two compound subjects. Watch for more than one noun doing the same action.

Correct: The cat on the street and the dog in the shelter are both looking for a forever home.

Incorrect: The cat on the street, and the dog in the shelter are both looking for a forever home.

Incorrect: The cat on the street, and the dog in the shelter, are both looking for a forever home.

Why? Neither “the cat on the street” or “the dog in the shelter” are complete thoughts. They’re compound subjects. And they both need the same thing—a home.

A word about compound predicates...

Don’t put a comma between the two verbs or verb phrases in a compound predicate. Don’t be put off by “compound predicate.” That just means that the subject (noun) is doing more than one thing.

Correct: We grabbed some books and coffee and began to study.

Incorrect: We grabbed some books and coffee, and began to study.

We (noun) did two things. We grabbed and studied.

Side Note: What would make the comma correct? If we add in another subject and make two independent clauses.

Correct: We grabbed some books and coffee, and we began to study.

Introductory Clauses

The easiest way to look at introductory clauses is to think of them as stage setters. They set up the main clause. Kind of like the backstory in our books provides the setup for our characters and plot.  

They tell us things like when and where and how and why things are happening.

They don’t come between or after commas, so we do consider them essential to the meaning of the sentence, and we don’t want to take them out.

Side Note: Don’t get caught up in the technicality of what each phrase below is called.

• Introductory absolute phrase: The fire alarm screaming loudly, the students ran out of school.
• Introductory prepositional phrase: After the adjustment for taxes, my paycheck barely covered my rent.
• Introductory infinitive phrase: To stay on top of math, you have to practice every day.
• Introductory participial phrase: Yelling loudly, Mom got us to pause our video game.
• Introductory appositive phrase: An accomplished and loved athlete, Jimmy was our first pick for the team.

Helpful Hint: If you flip the sentence, don’t put a comma. You no longer have an introductory clause.

Correct: Because her phone died, she missed your call.

Correct: She missed your call because her phone died.

Incorrect: She missed your call, because her phone died.

By putting the comma before “because her phone died,” you’ve made those words nonessential. Except they aren’t, and we need them for the sentence to make sense. You can also look at that clause in terms of being dependent. It’s depending on the main clause in the sentence to make sense. It can’t stand alone.

Here are a few more examples.

• While I slept, she worked. She worked while I slept.
• If you’re sick, you should stay home. You should stay home if you’re sick.
• When he snores, I move to the couch. I move to the couch when he snores.

It’s not only phrases that can be introductory. Single words can be too.

WELL, YES, NO, and HOWEVER should be followed by a comma.

• Well, perhaps you were right.
• Yes, let’s go shopping.
• However, you may not like his personality.

And since we’re on the subject of those single introductory words, let’s take them a step further.

Words like HOWEVER, STILL, FURTHERMORE, and MEANWHILE create continuity and transition from one sentence to the next and should be followed by a comma.

• The teacher graded the tests. Meanwhile, the students worked on their essays.
• Most of the time she behaved. Still, her meltdown today pushed me over the edge.

Congratulations! You made it through the first set of crucial rules and no longer have to live in comma chaos. The more you use commas correctly, the more natural their placement will come. Pretty soon, your fingers will be typing commas on their own.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series. We’ll talk about what you do with essential and nonessential information in a sentence, commas with multiple adjectives, why you should care about that pesky Oxford comma, and more.   

At the beginning of this post, I promised to share some of my favorite grammar sites.

• My favorite go-to or commas is Purdue Owl, where they break down the basic comma rules into a quick guide as well as an extended guide. You can check them out here. Quick Comma Rules and Extended Comma Rules.

But you can also find great information at:

• The Chicago Manual of Style
• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
• Grammarly.com
• The Grammar Monster
• Grammar Girl
• I’m also currently trying out PerfectIt 5 which is now partnering with The Chicago Manual of Style.

Let’s discuss. I love to read your comments. What’s your biggest comma struggle? What are some things that helped you overcome your comma chaos? What are your favorite grammar references? Please share your comma tips and tricks below!

About Lori

An encourager at heart, author, editor, and writing coach Lori Freeland believes everyone has a story to tell. She’s presented multiple workshops at writer’s conferences across the country and writes everything from non-fiction to short stories to novels—YA to adult. When she’s not curled up with her husband drinking too much coffee and worrying about her kids, she loves to mess with the lives of the imaginary people living in her head.

You can find her young adult and contemporary romance at lorifreeland.com and her inspirational blog and writing tips at lafreeland.com. Her book, Where You Belong: a runaway series novella, is currently free on Kindle Unlimited. 

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Where You Belong

A girl can run from her roots, but she can’t escape her heart.  

Six years ago, after a practical joke gone wrong, Hendrix Marshall blew the single stoplight in the town of Runaway, Wisconsin, and never looked back. But when Grandpa Joe—retired hippie, Jimmy Hendrix devotee, and the man who raised her—ends up in the hospital, she reluctantly agrees to take a cab home. As long as she can keep the meter running. But then she comes heel-to-boot with Alexander Ryland—former best friend, sometimes nemesis, always secret crush. And his ocean-blue eyes still have the power to launch cartwheels in her belly. Too bad his freestyle attitude makes her certifiable. He’s the reason she left. He won’t be the reason she stays. Even if he’s determined to collect interest on the kiss she’s owed him for the last ten years.

by Jenny Hansen

I was just introduced to the Law of Loss Aversion on the marketing side of my life and was shocked at how much I see it in action in the writing world.

What exactly is the Law of Loss Aversion?

It describes the very human foible that we feel loss more than we feel gain. Researchers have proved that you will spend more emotion on a $100 loss than you will on a $100 windfall. In other words, a real (or even a potential) loss will be more severe emotionally than an equivalent gain.

The two researchers who defined this theory, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, actually showed that losses carry more than twice the psychological impact of gains. So it would be common for a person to feel an equal amount of contentment between not losing $5 and finding $10 on the street.

Loss Aversion is why gambling is so seductive. Marketers and casinos know you can’t deal with the pain of losing out on an opportunity. This is also why "10% off for today only" or "6 hours left" are successful marketing strategies.

Bottom Line: We hate losses even more than we love gains.

It's not completely rational, but it's true. Here's Loss Aversion in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBX-KulgJ1o

Managing Loss in Writing

Writing is a profession where we're required to accept loss as an intrinsic part of our jobs. We fight an uphill battle all the time, in my humble opinion. Writing is about heart and vision and drive. On the other hand, the Business of Writing is about numbers and sales and distribution.

We bring heart and emotion to our work. We have to, or the stories will suck. Or worse, they won't get written.

Yet the selling of our work is in many ways heartless by nature. Emotion has no place in numbers - you're either selling or you aren't. Marketing metrics are pretty black and white.

What do writing losses look like?

The losses writers endure can feel endless - like a thousand paper cuts in any given year. Some losses may feel smaller or larger, but all of the items below are usually perceived as losses.

• Rejection from an agent or editor
• Edits requiring you to change an entire story
• Not finaling in a contest
• Losing your manuscript with no backup
• Losing a critique partner
• Missing an important deadline
• Bad reviews
• Not having a contract renewed
• Your main contact leaving (ex: publishers, marketing firms, publicists)

What do our writing wins look like?

And just when we think about quitting...a "win" comes rolling in. They might look like:

• Acceptance from an agent or editor
• Edits showing that your [fill in the blank] loves your story
• Finaling in a contest
• Gaining a great critique partner
• A great review
• Getting a contract renewed
• Winning an award
• Making a "best of" list

How do you manage Loss Aversion?

So, if it's human nature to fear loss more strongly than we embrace joy, how do we keep ourselves motivated in a profession that guarantees loss? How do we fight against being more bummed out about a bad review than feeling joy over a good review?

In his Medium article, How Loss Aversion is Driving Your Fear of Failure, Daniel Schleien gives five solid tips about how to overcome loss aversion:

1. Be grateful.

Last year in our annual post on Writerly Thanks, I shared a quote from a conference I attended called LIFT:

"Gratitude lives in the same part of the brain as fear. You can’t feel both at the same time."

- Danny Iny

Especially amid a pandemic that included homeschooling (*shudders*), I badly needed Danny's advice. And I needed to read that there's neuroscience backing up those claims that a practice of gratitude actually rewires the brain.

Essentially, focusing on the things you're grateful for leaves less room in your brain for fear and angst.

2. Think long-term.

Lists help with this. Gratitude journals. Reminders on the mirror. Anything that makes you remember your wins will help keep your long-term goal-thinking more rational. If the losses take up twice as much of your energy, a review of your wins and a list of what you love about your work-in-progress will always save your writing day.

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited of what could go right.

- Tony Robbins

3. Be honest about what could actually go wrong.

What is the worst thing that could happen? Seriously. If the positives aren't keeping you on track, take a moment to make a list of what could go wrong, and a plan for how to deal with it. Thinking about the fear of failure logically (when you aren't in the middle of a deadline) can help with the fear.

4. Create a strong information filter.

Stop letting all the negative news and information into your brain. Colleen Story calls this "doomscrolling." She did a terrific post about it earlier this year and offered amazing suggestions to help you keep your writing creativity strong. Seriously, set some Google alerts, curate some lists, and be selective about what you let into your writing brain.

5. Read books. Especially biographies.

Read books that make you happy, but also read books about people overcoming hardship. Memoirs and biographies are amazing for this. Kind of the "other people have faced this and I can face it too" mentality.

Pretty great advice, right? Seriously, read Schleien's Medium article. I took his 5 main points and riffed with them, but I really love the language and examples he used.

Final Thoughts

This is a glorious profession we've chosen, but the potential for loss is high and the fear of loss is real. I encourage you to be brave. Gain enough knowledge to have good craft, and then get out of the way and let your magical writing brain tell the story. Be selective in what you allow into that magical writing brain.

Most important of all, be compassionate toward that playful creative who lives inside you. If you care for your inner creative, they won't let you down.

Do you see the Law of Loss Aversion in action in your own life? How about in your writing? Do you have recent losses or wins that came to mind while you read this? Please share them with us down in the comments!

About Jenny

By day, Jenny provides corporate communications and LinkedIn advice for professional services firms. 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.

When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Facebook at JennyHansenAuthor or at Writers In The Storm.

Top Photo from Depositphotos by Vadim Vasenin