Writing as an Act of Courage

There are many parts of this crazy writing quest that require courage. It takes courage to get the ideas from your head down on paper. It takes courage to let someone else read what you've written. It takes courage to ask for a critique. It takes courage to submit, and it takes even more courage to submit again after being rejected. But I want to talk about courage in the actual writing itself. I once received a critique that said something along the lines of, "It seems like you're afraid of your own writing. You need to go all out on the descriptions here." Wow. That gave me pause. Afraid of my own writing? He was absolutely right. I was writing timidly, as if thinking, "This isn't really that great. Maybe it's just a stupid idea." That's no way to write! Really. Boldness is required! I rewrote the scene in question and I sold the story a short time later.

I still find myself falling into a trap of timidity when writing. I have to remind myself often to be bold! Be courageous! Let my imagination fly wherever it wants to go, and just write it. If I start worrying about what others will think, I just become paralyzed. I've found boldness to be liberating. I find that when I am bold, the story turns out much better than when I write worried about if it sucks or not. Usually, if I use boldness, the story doesn't suck. So, my challenge for you today is to sit down and write with courage, however you define it. Boldly go where no writer has gone before! I think you're writing will be better for it.