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Posts tagged ‘creative anxiety’

Oct 5

Fuel your writing with creative anxiety, part 2

The fear at the root of creative anxiety can be powerful writing fuel if you manage it. In part one of Five fixes for creative anxiety, I revealed reasons writers experience anxiety.

Here are five more:

  1. You’re writing about something very personal. Much of writing, whether it’s a memoir, essay or even a novel, contains autobiographical elements. It can be wrenching to write about personal events. But write you must, because that’s where the emotional truth lies, and that is what makes your story connect with readers. Read more

Oct 3

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Five fixes for creative anxiety

Do you ever feel creative anxiety? Your brain is buzzing, and you’re spinning your creative wheels faster than your feet can pedal. You’re just plain fried.

I’ve analyzed this malady to see what causes it, as well as what fixes it.

  1. You’re looking at the project as a whole instead of bite-sized pieces. Change how you think about your work. If you’re struggling with where to start or the enormity of what you’re doing, don’t try to attack it all at once. Focus on one piece, whether it’s writing one stellar sentence or one excellent chapter. As Anne Lamott said, “bird by bird.” Read more