Write Now

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. 

Action breeds confidence and courage. 

If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. 

Go out and get busy.

 ~ Dale Carnegie

Today is a celebration day for me. By noon, I will finalize and submit another eight-pack of stories to an educational company. Yahoo!

You know, I've been doing this sort of writing for many of years. You’d think it would get easier. You’d think that I’d have a wee bit of confidence in my abilities by now…

But let me let you in on a little secret —

Whenever I get a request for a new batch of stories, I experience feelings of… well… we’ll call it PANIC. It’s like a great big Shop-Vac has come along and sucked every ounce of confidence from me. And it happens every single time.

What if I don’t have another eight stories inside of me? I say to myself.

Of course, to my editors I say, “Sure thing! No problem!” 

Then I take Dale’s advice. I get busy searching every corner of my world for those eight stories. Because dang it, they are out or in there somewhere!

And somehow, some way, by getting busy with the business of writing, I manage to find them.

I've talked to other writers, and many experience the same sort of thing.

Does this lack of confidence occur for professionals in other fields?

Take neurosurgeons, for example. Yeah, I’ll bet they have plenty of days when they find themselves leaning over a skull and muttering, “Hmmm, I just don’t know if I have what it takes today. I think the brain surgery Muse has left the building. I suppose I’ll try tomorrow.”

No way.

They show up.

Glove up.

And get the job done.

I wonder if there would be fewer cases of block in the world if writers did the same. 

But Barb, I hear you saying. That’s different. Neurosurgery is a matter of life and death.

Well so is writing, Cupcake. We’re talking about the life and death of a dream. And I’ll wager that a dead dream is one of the worst kind of brain disease out there.

And I, for one, have a dream of making my way in this world as a writer.

Maybe you do, too.

So…

Show up.

Glove up.

Get the job done.

PROMPT: You can do it! Write NOW! Then write a whole bunch of other stuff, too. Trust me, there are MILLIONS of stories inside of you. It’s time to get busy busting them out.