Showing posts with label scary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scary. Show all posts

Monday, October 14, 2013

Ten Things That Scare Every Writer

In honor of Halloween (my favorite holiday) I'm giving you a top ten list of the scariest things writers face.

10.  Writer's Block. Some say it exists. Others deny it. Sort of like Bigfoot. But either way we are terrified of it. Don't lose the muse! BIC (Butt in chair) is the best preventative measure I know of.

9.  Sucking. Yup. We are all secretly afraid we're horrible at the thing we love most. Even those of us who are published! Weird aren't we?

8.  Missing the window. We fret, we revise, we practically bleed to get our manuscripts in their best shape. But what if by the time we get it out there no one wants to buy those anymore? Vampires? Dystopians? Eeep. 

7.  Adverbs. The lazy writer's crutch. But do I find them? ALL THE TIME.

6.  Adjectives. Those pesky, useless, lazy, overdone, oh.

5.  Running out of chocolate. Need I say more?

4.  Cliche. Have you described your MC in the first page as waking up or by looking in the mirror? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Run! 

3.  The computer crashing. It's frozen on me. Word has quit. And it kind of feels like you're watching your best friend be stabbed by a murderer. Okay maybe that's overkill. Maybe not depending when you last saved. 

2.  Did I mention running out of chocolate? How about coffee? Tea? Wine? I'm panicking just thinking about it.

And the number one thing writer's fear?

1.  REJECTION. In any and all forms. Yet we all deal with this monster at every turn. From critiques to agents, to editors, to acquisition boards, to reviews and sales. But we still hang in there. 

Why?

Why do people in horror films keep running into the dark forest? Or the empty house? Because if we didn't there'd be no point. 

What scares you?