phobias – Jean's Writing

Well, it’s Halloween again and scary things are heading your way.

But do you really need to open the door to find scary things that instill fear?

No, not me. All I have to do is walk over to my desk.

Because, if you’re a writer, you live with fear. At least I do. Fear of failure, and fear of success. Yep, that’s right. Sitting down at the keyboard is a whole other kind of fear.

Is it really fear of writing or is it fear of failure?

Do you suffer from Graphophobia, Scriptophobia, Achievemephobia, Atychiphobia or some other phobia?

Oh yeah, there is a phobia for everything.

Scriptophobia, fear of writing (in public, class, etc.). I believe a writer can feel this fear because we are expecting someone, someday to read what we’ve written. ie… public.

Graphophobia, fear of handwriting. Okay, this one is a stretch for writers. But, hey you never know, so I threw it in for good measure.

Achievemephobia, fear of success. Hmm, yeah sometimes this does bother me. How would my life change if I wrote a bestselling book? I’m not a big people person, preferring the quiet of my home to a convention floor.

But first I, and maybe you must get over the biggest fear.

Achievemephobia, the fear of failure. If there is a writer anywhere in the world that hasn’t felt a fear of failure at one point in their life, I’d love to meet them.

So, according to Mark Twain, it’s okay to be afraid but not okay to let fear stop us.

Doesn’t matter what you call it, we can overcome any fear including finishing that manuscript.

How? One word at a time.

What is your biggest fear?

What fear keeps you from writing?

What fear stops you from succeeding?

Want to read more about phobias, and how to overcome the fear of writing? Click links at the end of this post.

PLEASE TAKE ANOTHER MINUTE AND LOOK ME UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW.

AND STOP BY JEAN’S WRITING ANYTIME, I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON.

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3 Tricks to Overcome Your Fear of Writing by Jeff Elkins

10 Ways to Harness Fear and Fuel Your Writing By: Sage Cohen

Writers Anxiety

Overcoming Fear of Failure – Facing Your Fear of Moving Forward

Fear of Writing Phobia – Graphophobia or Scriptophobia

Monsters lurk about in many forms.

Doesn’t have to be Big Foot or a dragon. A hateful neighbor or classmate, a work colleague, even a stranger on the street can be monsters in your story.

One man’s monster is another man’s pet. A monster can live in the protagonists past, their imagination or in a secret held close. It can take the form of an illogical or logical phobia, or a real flesh and blood monster.

The trick to writing about monsters as well as fantasy creatures is in the description and then escalating that fear. Bringing that fear to life is the goal of writers.

Readers love to feel the fear of a character. The right description determines whether a character is a paper doll cutout or a 3D believable personality.

Now Y’all know how much I love my cheat sheets, so guess what? Seems there is a list for just about everything. After reading the websites below, I combined some of the high points into an infographic for my readers.

Here is what I learned from the sources below…

A phobia is a great way to start scaring the bejesus out of your readers. Give your protagonist a phobia and build on that.