31 Days: Day 2 “afraid”

So many fears.

What if I’m not any good? What if the words stop coming all-of-a-sudden? What if no one reads it? What if the novel is a dud? What do I have to say that is going to matter anyway? Why bother writing when so many other things demand my attention? There are so many blogs out there, why bother posting? How dare I call myself a writer? Real writers never have any of these fears.

These are some of the fears I will cop to. There are many more that I can’t bring myself to actually put in black and white.

Being afraid and facing it is part of being a writer – of doing anything worthwhile. Creating comes from the depths of a soul and sharing it will feel as though you’re standing in a crowd naked.

My first blog posts, part of me wanted to get them published in Times magazine (because of course they’re that good!) and the other part of me wanted to never let them see the light of day.

My audience was definitely not large – ha. Large would’ve been a readership of 10 people. But I wrote. It was the very act of writing that helped me gain confidence and be less afraid.

Now after 10 years of blogging and writing, those questions don’t plague me like they used to. It’s become natural to refer to myself as a writer. (If you see me driving, my license plate echoes it – thanks to my hubby!) My writer’s group is my tribe and they tell me that yes, real writers face down their fears every time they try to write. I do have something to write and share because I am created to write.

I love it and couldn’t stop even if I wanted.

As I said yesterday, His Story is my story. Writing is just one way I worship.