Writing fears were addressed at the Warrior-Writer Workshop presented by Bob Mayer in Chesterfield, Missouri, some time ago.
In this workshop Mayer applied the battle-tested strategies of the Green Berets to the world of being a New York Times Best-Selling author. This workshop was designed to teach writers how to think, plan, and become future best sellers.
It was an interesting workshop and certainly gave me a lot to think about regarding my own writing and writing career.
Mayer has also written a book called Warrior-Writer that gives the same basic information we learned in the workshop. It includes exercises that will help you identify your greatest writing fears and then learn to overcome that fear.
You’ll also see how your environment affects your writing, and you’ll learn how to set strategic goals and tactial goals so you don’t just write A book, you develop strategies for creating an overall writing career.
Although this book is a bit clunky in spots, and there are several typos and some grammatical mistakes (which I found surprising since Mayer started his own publishing company and this book is one of the books it published), it provides practical advice for published writers as well as for those who are just starting out.
One thing I particularly enjoyed about both the workshop and the book is this: When you compare your life as a writer to a Green Beret or a Navy Seal, as Mayer does, you’ll see that your fears as a writer really aren’t all that scary in comparison.
In fact, you’ll probably feel a bit silly if you let something as “safe” as rejection keep you from writing, submitting, and building the writing career you’ve always dreamed of.
I mean…come on….are you going to let a little letter from a publisher that says “sorry, just not right for our list” keep you from pursuing your dreams?
What’s so scary about that?
Find out more about Warrior-Writer and Bob Mayer at www.bobmayer.org
Fear of writing? Watch this video.
