Writers: The Dangerous, Invisible Dog Fence Surrounding Your Creative Work
Are we sabotaging our work by imposing non-existent self-limits?
The real enemy of the writer is not other writers, critics, or too much competition. The true enemy of the writer is herself. We go into our craft with self-limitations — a proverbial electric dog fence around our work. When we limit ourselves we limit our potential as writers. And if we don’t recognize this and work to change it, our work may suffer in the process.
It’s time to jump the fence.
Electric dog fences work like this: a wire is buried along the perimeter of your yard. Your dog wears a special collar. As the dog approaches the ‘fence,’ the collar emits a warning beep, telling her she’s about to get zapped. If the dog gets too close to the fence the collar gives her a jolt.
Once the dog gets a few jolts and learns her boundaries, you can take off the collar and she’ll remain inside the yard. The behavioral training was strong enough and the fence shock is uncomfortable enough for the dog to stop leaving the yard.
No more batteries to change. No more shocks.
The dog stays because the plasticity of the mind re-wired itself to avoid leaving the yard, even if the dog can’t remember the initial training.
