“The scariest part is always just before you start.” – Stephen King

The scariest part of anything is that moment right before you dive in. It is the fear of not knowing how it will turn out, the fear that you will fail. We doubt ourselves, our abilities. We are about to plunge into something deep knowing that we might not come back out. Once you start writing you fall in love with the characters: their personalities, their relationships, their courage you wish you had. Once you are in, you are all in. There is no turning back. It becomes a part of you, a part of you that you fear no one will like.

I have all these ideas in my head. They are tiny ideas full of potential. It is such a wonderful feeling to have new writing ideas in your head that are just waiting to be brought to life. So wonderful in fact, that I sometimes just let them linger there. I want to enjoy them for a while because I know once I sit down they will not seem as brilliant as I once thought. Suddenly they are real, they are on their way to being seen by others, to being judged and criticized.

Although criticism is a crucial part of the writing process, I find myself hating it at times. I have spent so much time alone with the story that it is ingrained in my head a certain way and I can become defensive. It is as if someone is trying to change your child when, in your mind, they are perfect just the way they are no matter how bad they are. However, the reader may see it differently than the writer does. We need a reader to give feedback in order for the work to become the best it can be.

But for me it is not always the fear of criticism that holds me back. It is the fear that I will not even make it to the criticism stage. What if the ideas in my head are too tiny? What if I sit at the desk and in a day have it all written down and that is it? What if nothing else comes to me? Or what if my ideas are just too big? I have all the big events planned out but none of the details needed to get my character from one main occurrence to the next? There is always going to be a, “what if,” when it comes to trying anything new. “What if” is the start to so many questions that hold us back but we will never find the answers unless we forget our doubts and go get them.