I'm afraid my first novel will never find representation.
I'm afraid I'm taking too long with my latest round of revisions.
I'm afraid my changes will make the book worse, not better.
I'm afraid that everyone else will like the new edits, but I'll still prefer the original.
I'm afraid readers won't "get" what I've tried to do with this book.
I'm afraid the novel won't be taken seriously enough.
I'm afraid that I won't fall in love with the characters in my second novel as much as I did with the characters in my first.
I'm afraid that I'm losing too much time on my first novel and not getting enough new work written.
I'm afraid that everyone will want my second novel to be written just like the first.
I'm afraid that I'm too close to my own work to revise it yet again.
I'm afraid of the blank page.
Fortunately, I'm more afraid of not trying.
Yeah. I think it comes with the job description. I recently had a book accepted at a small press. It had been published before, but I did massive edits before I submitted again, to make sure it conformed more to the current agent-publishing blogosphere "rules."
ReplyDeleteI just got my edits from my new editor. Basically, he asked me to put back everything I'd taken out.
In other words, the book I wrote ten years ago was great. All my editing only messed it up.
You might want to keep that in mind.
Start something new?
I think you have expressed fears that are common to most of us. But that fear of not trying can be deadly to the soul of the writer--or anyone who has a dream.
ReplyDeleteNever give up! You can do it! And so can I!
Lee
Tossing It Out
I love being reminded that my fears are totally normal. I share every single one of these.
ReplyDeleteYou just summed up my life....
ReplyDeleteThose who ain't afraid ain't writers, baby. ;)
ReplyDelete