How to CRUSH Your Writing Anxiety

Christopher0:00Hello and welcome to the Writing Momentum Podcast. I'm Christopher Maselli. I'm here with my wife Gena. How's it going today, Gena?

Gena0:14It's going pretty good.

Christopher0:15Are you feeling anxious at all?

Gena0:17A little bit.

Christopher0:17Guess what we're talking about today? This is perfect cuz we're gonna talk about how to crush your writing anxiety. We've been going through the fears that we as writers face and they're pretty universal, aren't they?

Gena0:28Definitely.

Christopher0:29The things that we have both faced in our writing journey and we've been writing for a lot of years and over those years we have faced a lot of these things that we're talking about.

Gena0:38Yes.

Christopher0:38And that's what we thought we just make a special series of podcasts about 'em?

Gena0:41Yeah, definitely. We just wanted to really encourage the writers that are out there that are struggling with this or, and I think, as I've mentioned before, but fear is one of those things that exists in the dark. And it really does exist in the dark and it grows in the dark. And so when we shine a light [00:01:00] on it, it's amazing how quickly that fear can diminish. I'm not promising that it'll always go away, but it can diminish. And I think there's also an element that when you realize that you're not the only one, yeah.

Gena1:13That there are other people out there who have the same kind of fears that you have, and when you realize. Oh, this is normal or typical, then it takes the takes the power away from that fear.

Christopher1:26Yeah. And so we have now over the past what, three different episodes. We've covered three, at least three fears in each one. So we've got three more here. And today we're talking about losing motivation, the loss of originality, and the failure to launch. And these are really. Very interesting. And like I said, I think I've faced every one of the fears we've talked about at one time or another in my writing journey, and I know you have too.

Gena1:49Absolutely.

Christopher1:49And so that's why this is so important. Yeah. So let's jump right into it.

Gena1:52Let's talk about it. The first one is the fear of motivation. The fear of losing your passion or the fear of losing the interest [00:02:00] in your writing and your creative work. Especially if you take on, I think this one kind of hits sometimes when you're thinking about those big projects.

Christopher2:07Yes.

Gena2:08Those things that you're like, okay, I'm gonna finally write that book. I'm gonna finally do that course. I'm gonna finally, whatever it is, and then you're like, oh, but do I, can I do it or will I not? Will I lose motivation?

Christopher2:22And here's the honest to goodness truth, you probably will at some point in most projects, right? Especially the big projects. Because what happens is when you start working on a project, especially a difficult one, you're usually charged up when you start or you might hit a slight bump trying to get the motivation for it and then you'll start doing it. And then you'll be excited cuz you'll see how it's coming together. And then, usually about halfway or two thirds of the way through, you're just gonna feel stuck and you're going to lose motivation, and you're just gonna not even want to work on it anymore. But it's at that point that you've gotta push through. This is what Seth Golden calls the dip, right? [00:03:00] Most people stop when they see that dip.

Christopher3:01It's too far of a chasm to make it across. And instead what you want to do is just say, you know what? I may lose my passion for this project. I may lose my motivation, but what I'm going to do is I'm gonna go ahead and push through. And that doesn't mean you can't set that book aside for a little bit, but here's what I encourage you to do. Don't put it in a drawer. Don't put it out of sight. Out of sight is out of mind. Keep it there before you keep it on your desktop, keep it on your desk, whatever, however you're working with this manuscript, and make sure that you set a date to come back to it so that you can finish the thing.

Gena3:38I think that's the key is I think, and it's funny that you talk about the chasm. For me, it's. The going uphill. It's the little engine that could, and you get about halfway up the mountain and you think, I don't think I'm gonna make this. I don't know how I'm gonna pull this together, or I don't think I'm gonna finish it. And to me, there comes a point in these big [00:04:00] projects when you finally hit that peak, you finally get that second wind of feeling like, oh my gosh we're headed downhill now.

Gena4:09And the thing is that the more that you do this, you'll recognize those different patterns that you have where you do create those or you have those moments where you think you know it's gonna feel normal when you realize. Okay. I'm just at the point where it's just really hard right now. I'm climbing the mountain and it's just really hard. But if I just keep going, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna keep going. And when I hit that peak and I head over and the end is in sight, all of a sudden you get this woosh of energy. Of you know that you're headed towards it and then you just can't.

Gena4:45Wait to see the finish line. And so I think that recognizing that when you're feeling that it's normal, it's typical. And there is going to come the point where you hit that peak and you go over the edge and all of a sudden [00:05:00] it just picks up speed and you feel like you're barreling towards that finish line and it's just working and it's coming together. Then you get that real energy going. But when you hit that tough point, I think like what Chris is saying, don't put it in a drawer. That's when it's really important to maybe put some parameters or some steps or some work things into play and to make sure you have those. So for instance, it might mean getting the accountability with a writing partner.

Gena5:34Or a person who can give you that accountability.

Christopher5:36What motivates me through some of the toughest times is a due date. We've talked about this often, get yourself a due date. I've had projects that I, you suddenly hit that point. You don't wanna push through and then you look and you realize. Hey, this thing is due in a week or it's due in two weeks, and I just have to get it done. It doesn't matter how I feel at that point. I have to get it done right cause I wanna get paid right, or I wanna get it out there for the world to see. Whatever's [00:06:00] your motivation is behind it, you'll find the motivation if you have things like a due date.

Gena6:05I would also say, Chris and I have a group of writers who get together once a week. It's Writing Moments that we have on Wednesdays at Noon Central. And the reason we have this and the reason why I think it is so effective is that it is a due date that people are setting with themselves. The writers in our group are setting that with themselves every week at noon Central that they are going to get together. They're gonna listen to a small teaching about writing or publishing or marketing or whatever, productivity, whatever, something that can help them. And then they're just gonna write and it's amazing how having those kind of, that is a due date in itself.

Christopher6:46It's motivating.

Gena6:47It's motivating.

Christopher6:47That's the whole thing when you feel like you're losing motivation, that's why we say, we don't write in a box, right? Writing is not a solitary adventure. Writing is something we do together. If you write with others, you will find a regular [00:07:00] motivation.

Gena7:00Absolutely.

Christopher7:01All right. The second one.

Gena7:02Second one.

Christopher7:03Is the loss of originality. Okay. This is the fear that what you're writing isn't original enough.

Gena7:10Yeah. And here's the thing that I think this is also, it's, when we say originality, it's if you have had the thought go through your mind where you have said, what do I have to say about this subject that hasn't been said before?

Christopher7:23This isn't special.

Gena7:24This isn't special.

Christopher7:24The feeling that it is not special.

Gena7:25Anybody could write this. Everybody knows this.

Christopher7:27Here's the best way to combat this fear. It's to recognize that only you can say what's in your book the way you would say it? There have been a thousand self-help books on how to win friends and influence people, but many of them are still very successful because they all come from the perspective of a different author. Now that author is just rehashing something someone else has done. Maybe that isn't as, doesn't feel as original. But I would probably argue that it's still a little different. It's in that person's voice. And if what you are [00:08:00] writing is truly your own material, right? It's your fresh material, it's your take on a particular material there's nothing that's not original about that.

Christopher8:11Go ahead and keep writing that. How many space adventures have there been? How many romances? Romance is a genre that is very formulaic, right? Most of the time it's very formulaic and yet, every time you read one of those books, it feels a little original. It feels a little, the same, but a little original. And the best authors can just really put themselves into it, make it the most unique, like the way they perceive it. And that's when it feels really original. So I just say double down on your originality. Make it more you, wouldn't you say?

Gena8:39And the thing that I would say is imagine if you and your friend, or even your spouse or partner or whoever we're talking about the person that you love to hear about whatever. Could be about who do you love to hear about finances? Somebody who talks about finances, somebody who [00:09:00] talks about setting goals or hopes and adventure, hopes and dreams and that kind of thing. Those kind of topics are really big, but Chris and I have been married almost 30 years now.

Christopher9:12Yep.

Gena9:12But I will tell you there are, we could read books on the same topic, but he will choose an author that is very different from the author that I would choose. We have some that we both love and we just love them. But we also have some just differences because we have different personalities. There are things that are just different about the way somebody expresses it, the stories they tell. Chris, I know for instance, loves really short chapters.

Christopher9:39Yes. I want that book to move. That fiction book, I want it to move.

Gena9:42Fiction. I would even say maybe nonfiction.

Christopher9:45Probably nonfiction too.

Gena9:45You like things that are like, I don't necessarily like the really long ones, but I will probably give something a little bit more of a chance if it takes a little bit longer. So there's just one way that we are different, but just think about that in terms [00:10:00] of you and someone that you really admire or is someone who's close to you. You may want to talk about the same thing, but or read about the same thing, but you're reading about it from two different perspectives from two different authors and that's what is different. That's what makes those authors original, is how they express themselves and even who their readers are might be a little bit different because of how they express themselves.

Christopher10:24You are uniquely you and that will come out in the material you write.

Gena10:28Yes. Absolutely.

Christopher10:29All right. What's the third one? The third and final fear we're covering in this series.

Gena10:33Is failure to launch. The fear of not knowing where to start, how to organize, or even where to begin selling.

Christopher10:40Yeah. There's gonna be a lot of failures that we have, or fear of failures when it comes to launching something, whether it's launching the writing of the book and not knowing where to start; the organization of the book; the plotting and that sort of thing. Or even the selling of the book. How to, I don't know how to market. And so because we [00:11:00] combat those fears, a lot of times it can keep us from writing it all. It's, I don't even know where to start. And so we just, we go I'll cover it another time. I'll do it another time. And what happens is that book often doesn't happen. Because we have that failure to launch in one of those areas.

Gena11:13And again, I think this is the kind of thing that it is beneficial to you to have a coach.

Christopher11:19Yes.

Gena11:20To have another, to have experienced eyes, not just another pair of eyes. But experienced eyes who can help you pull that book or that idea apart and help you step one, step two, step three, give you this outline of what you need to do.

Christopher11:36Finding a coach, finding a mentor that can help you break through some of those things where you're like, I'm not sure what to do next. And a lot of times, Other people can look right through it and cut through all that smoke screen and say, oh, yeah I see exactly here what you need to do next, right? Now, if you don't have that available to you, first of all, there's a lot of coaches online, and I know they may cost, but that, that, that can help get you from point [00:12:00] A to point B.

Christopher12:00But the other thing you can do is just educate yourself, right? If you're not sure where to begin selling your book, Go on YouTube or go to the Writing Momentum Channel, and you'll see so many podcast episodes where we talk about marketing, right? And on YouTube there's other writers that also talk about marketing and how to sell your book. And just start implementing the things that you see there, one by one, one thing at a time. Find an online course that teaches it. And as you start to put those things into practice, you're gonna get little successes here and there, and then you can eventually find what works for you.

Gena12:32Yeah, I think that's true. I think there's a lot of information out there and we cover a lot on this podcast. We have talked before and we've had people tell us before that we give a lot of content away for free. Just through this podcast where we're talking about different things. And that's true because we really want to be a resource for the writing community. So start with, if it's not our podcast, I know there are other great podcasts. There are other books out available [00:13:00] to help you. And just start and start with what works for you Start. You're gonna read a lot of information. You're gonna hear a lot of information. What really resonates with you and what feels easy for you?

Gena13:15Like where you listen to it and you think, I can do that. I can do that. I can do a Facebook post or I can do an Instagram post. I can do that. And then once that becomes easy, then you look and you say, okay, what else can I do? Oh, I can do that. And it's something else. And you just add, and before you know it, you've got this great toolbox. Whether it's writing or whether it's marketing or whether it's establishing your brand as an author that's just how it goes. It's just one step at a time.

Christopher13:48So those are the fears that we find most common. When it comes to writers notice, these are all common. They're common to all writers and just know that you are not alone, the fears that you're facing. [00:14:00] There, there's something that Gena has faced that I have faced that other writers that we know who are super successful have faced, and so you're not alone. If you want other writers to write with, join us at writingmoments.com every Wednesday we have a small group that gets together. We just keep each other motivated.

Christopher14:15Please subscribe to this podcast and other writing podcasts we have a great writing community out there in the world, and we just like having us all come together and just learn from one another. Rate, review, subscribe and share this podcast so you don't miss one episode. And until next Wednesday we hope that you have.

Gena14:34Writing momentum because together we do. We have it.

Christopher14:38Bye-bye.