Please don’t be afraid of filling the blank page with words. Don’t fear that you don’t sound smart enough, or that you have nothing to say. You have so much inside you. I used to want to “sound smart” and wrote long-winded prose that I didn’t care for but that others told me was “right”. But if meaning is buried beneath piles of thesaurus-bound words, then what does that matter anymore? If you speak to an audience of one-hundred and only one person understands you, then where does that leave the other ninety-nine?
Please don’t be afraid of others’ criticism. Don’t fear that others will judge you. People willalways find something wrong with your stories, but that doesn’t mean they should stop being listened to. That doesn’t mean you have to stifle your own voice to please others. (So long as your writing does not harm yourself/others and is respectful of others’ lives).
Please don’t be afraid of reaching out for help. Perhaps you want a mentor in the writing world or want to know if somebody would read your stories and give you feedback. We are always in the mode of improving ourselves, of practicing and working at our skills until we get better at them. Hiding our work away because we fear we aren’t good enough doesn’t lead to improvement. It leads to unsung songs and dusty pages.
Please. Please. Do not be afraid of writing. At some point, we all started out putting one letter in front of another. Even the greatest authors keep learning every day of their lives. Perhaps you are still learning, and that is okay too. Know that all the bravest people are afraid of something, but they face their fears despite it all.