April 2, 2014
#IWSG–Am I Brave Enough?
This post is for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group (click the link for details on what that means and how to join. You will also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge that are worth checking out like Kate and Rebecca who inspired me to begin). The first Wednesday of every month, we all post our thoughts, fears or words of encouragement for fellow writers.
This month’s insecurity: Am I brave enough to be a good writer? (inspired by Kirsten over at A Scenic Route, in a comment she left on my February IWSG article).
I’ll start by saying I’m not brave. What might be characterized to others around me as ‘brave’ is actually forced. I know what must be done and I do it. Or, often–this is how I became a writer–I don’t know how to stop. It’s easier to keep moving forward than come up with a plan for a new direction. On the outside, that might be mistaken for brave, gutsy, or confident, but those genes were left out of my genome.
The problem is that adage–all you have to do to write is cut a vein and bleed onto the page. Meaning: Open your soul to complete strangers. Share your inner-most secrets. Stand at the front of the room to be judged by people you don’t know. I can’t do that. Just can’t. I try, fail, try again, fail again. Repeat.
So I imitate bleeding passion onto a page, but I doubt that anyone’s fooled.
What do I do?
More IWSG articles:
Am I good enough? Does it matter?–#IWSG
Fear of Saying Dumb Things Scares Me to Death
#IWSG–The World is Changing–Can I keep up
Will I Find Employment if I’m an Older Job Hunter?
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. In her free time, she is editor of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. Currently, she’s editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer.
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