Sharing an interesting article with you, in case you didn’t see it.
In the article, fear of not meeting expectations (internal OR external) is discussed as the number one reason for writer’s block.
I see this, often, with my Legacy Writing students: the fear of not being “literary” enough, the fear that they won’t have anything interesting to say, the fear of revealing too much or not enough…these are all common reasons that would-be Legacy Writers don’t ever quite get around to actually writing anything about their lives. Often, once they get started and begin to see some positive fruits of their labors, they find the “writer’s block” excuse (“I don’t know what to write!”) begins to fade and they are confronted with a much different problem: I have too many choices of things to write and I’m not sure which to choose!
Of course, fear of not living up to expectations is a biggie for fiction writers, too. I feel it every time I walk into Barnes and Nobel and am confronted with two hundred books that are brand new since the last time I walked into the store. What on earth do I have to say that hasn’t already been said? And by someone smarter, funnier, and more well-read than me?
No matter the genre, we have to beat those fears back with a stick and find ways to just focus on the writing. I have to write. I know that. So, even if it’s just for me, then I have to keep moving forward.