Writing and Courage

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin

It’s springtime, so take a big, risky dive into writing

This weekend, I found myself writing in my journal that, among all my mid-life regrets (and there are many), most or all can be traced back to a failure of personal courage.  

Sure, at the time, it felt more comfortable to take the easy road, the less scary or daring choice. But now, in hindsight, I see this was a mistake. 

So today, on the first day of spring, I’m challenging myself to commit a daily act of courage. Every day,  I have to do something that scares me. It can be big or small. But it has to be something that makes me push through my own trepidation, my own "no-don't-do-that!" inner voice.  

It’s a partly sunny but chilly day here Massachusetts, so this little self-test is giving me the oomph I need. It also reminds me that writing, by its nature, is an act of courage.  

It takes a lot of chutzpah to fill a blank page or screen with our own words. It takes even more daring to strike out past the fear line, to write into that spot that scares us most.

So if you've already written today, bravo to you.

Now tomorrow, write or do something that scares you even more.  Query or pitch that agent or editor that seems like a reach.  Dive back into your manuscript to edit it again. Write the hard stuff. Kill your darlings. Cut out all the fat. 

In the rest of your writing life, say 'no' to the naysayers, the time users, the cynics. Say 'yes' to letting your own in-born talent shine through. Say 'yes' to that thing that's scaring the be-jeepers out of you. 

It's a new spring. So set your own writing courage test.

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