Once again, I need to face the fear of failure and it’s difficult.

Fear of Failure

My schedule is free for about three months now and I need to use this time to turn out a new first draft of a novel. But I’m scared.

I’ve written five posts on the Psychology of Revision , most of which could be true of first drafts. I’ve read Art and Fear until I can quote parts of it, or at least turn to the exact page I need. It says that it’s not that people stop writing, it’s that they don’t begin again. The point in the process that is the most fragile is after a project is done (especially if it fulfills a particular goal for which you have struggled) and before a new one is begun. Artists stop making art by not beginning again.

So–I know all this. But I’m still scared to start again. Oh, I will. But it’s not easy.