In the previous post I mentioned that people who never write the wonderful project they have in mind are afraid of failing. What if their cherished idea doesn’t turn into a wonderful book or screenplay? What if it turns into a real stinker? What would happen? My guess is that most people would come up with a list something like this:
1: I would feel humiliated.
2: My friend and family would think I’m a real loser.
3: That guy at work who doesn’t like me would never let me live it down.
4: I would have wasted months of my time on something that’s not going to pay off.
5: I’d never have the confidence to write anything else.
6: I couldn’t show my face among people who have had any kind of success with writing.
Let’s examine each one of these:
1: I would feel humiliated. Yes, that’s probably true, at least for a little while. Losing feels crappy. There’s nothing romantic about failure until it’s something you look back on it from a position of success. How long you’d feel humiliated is another matter. If you cling to it, you could make it last for the rest of your life. If you felt it and then let it go and moved onto other things, we’re talking about a matter of weeks, maybe a couple of months.
2: My friends and family would think I’m a real loser. Really? Sure, they’d feel bad for you, especially if you go around acting miserable as a result. But are they judging how worthwhile you are as a person based on whether or not your first book is good? And if they are, do you want them in your life?
3. That guy at work who doesn’t like me would never let me live it down. Sounds like a jerk. He’s going to find something to annoy you with, regardless. And he is not in control of whether or not you “live it down” (meaning move on to to other things). If he keeps on about it, he’s the one who is stuck, not you.
4: I would have wasted months of my time on something that’s not going to pay off. What are you doing with that time instead? Curing cancer? Then go for it. If you’re going to watch TV or or go to ball games or learn to knit, how are those going to pay off any more than writing a bad book?
5: I’d never have the confidence to write anything else ever. You don’t have the confidence to write the first one, why are you worried about whether you’ll have the confidence to write e second one?
6: I couldn’t show my face among people who have had any kind of success with writing. I’m not a writing superstar by any means, but I’ve had enough success to live off my writing for most of my adult life. If I meet two people, one of whom has carried around an idea for a book or a script for five years but has never done anything about it, and one who has spent the time writing it but it didn’t turn out to be any good, my respect is for the one who put his butt on the chair and sweated it out.
There’s also another outcome that wasn’t on the list: you will have learned something, maybe a lot. If you get feedback and are brave enough to figure out why the book doesn’t work, it’s pretty certain that the next one will be better. You’ll also learn something about yourself in the process because no matter what you write, on some level it’ll be about you and the way you see the world.
To me, that makes a good case for putting aside the fear.
If you need another reason, here it is: it doesn’t matter that much one way or the other.
A hundred years from now we’ll be dust, you and I. A lot sooner than that for me, but I'm assuming you may be young. Depending on your religious beliefs, maybe you think you’ll live for eternity, but I’m pretty sure if that’s true it won't be in a world in which you’ll be judged by how well your first novel or your first screenplay turned out.
(Ready to start? You'll find friendly guidance all the way from the idea through to the final draft via my books "Your Writing Coach" and "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," both published by Nicholas Brealey and available from your favorite book seller as traditional books or as those new-fangle ebooks.)
