If You Suffer From Writing Anxiety, Here’s How Write Anyway
Do you suffer from writing anxiety?
Perhaps you want to write, but you can’t do it. With every hour that passes, your deadline comes closer.
Alternatively, you’d like to write a book or a blog, but you stare at the computer screen for an hour without writing a word.
Feeling anxious when you sit down to write is common. Although few research studies into this condition exist, one study reported that it affected academics:
… around 50 percent of doctoral students in the U.S. and Canada drop out during the research proposal or dissertation-writing phases of their degrees before finishing their programs.
If writing anxiety is so common, what can you do about it?
Realizing that it’s a phenomenon which affects many writers can help. Years ago, when I wrote my first novel, I sobbed for ten minutes every day when rolled paper into my typewriter.
What was I scared of? I have no idea, but the terror was real. Here’s the thing: when I wrote anyway, no matter how scared I was, the fear dissipated.
