THIS TAUGHT ME A BIG LESSON ABOUT FEAR. SOMETIMES IT'S UNAVOIDABLE. SOMETIMES IT SEEMS TO BE ALL-CONSUMING. BUT IT ISN'T. THERE'S MORE INSIDE EACH ONE OF US; WE ARE MORE CAPABLE THAN WE BELIEVE OF REDIRECTING OUR THOUGHTS, STAYING FOCUSED ON THE POSITIVE.
WE ARE, ALL OF US, STRONGER THAN WE MIGHT THINK.
KNOW THAT, WRITER FRIENDS. WE CAN USE THAT KNOWLEDGE TO OUR ADVANTAGE IN SO MANY WAYS, AND CERTAINLY TO PUSH THROUGH OUR FEAR-BUILT BARRIERS AS WRITERS.
I KNOW I'M GOING TO REMEMBER THIS LESSON FOR THE REST OF MY (HOPEFULLY LONG) LIFE; FEAR IS ONLY AS BIG AS I LET IT BECOME AND ONLY HAS AS MUCH POWER OVER ME AS I ALLOW IT TO HAVE.
(Therese Walsh)
When I was a kid, I had a recurring nightmare about someone breaking into our house. Some of the details are long faded, but some are still crystal clear - I was alone in the house except for my grandparents. They lived upstairs and were physically unable to get around much. The doorbell rang. I opened the heavy inside door, leaving the storm door locked. A man stood there - always a man, always a big man. He'd somehow get through the storm door. I tried to close the inside door but he'd push inside. Terrified, I raced upstairs, closing door after door behind me. Panic threatened to swallow me whole. How was I going to save my grandparents? What was I going to do? To this day, whenever I think about that nightmare, the terror of that child fills me.
My nightmares, my fears, are different now. But I still sometimes let them get the better of me. Some are (sort of) silly - zombies, anyone? Some aren't - bad things happening to those I love. I work through them, and I do my best to not let them interfere with living a full and wonderful life.
Sometimes, though, I find I have to wring the terror out, staining the story with tears and sweat. I wrestle with the fear, twisting and lunging, until it's pinned to the page where it lurks within words, blooms inside characters, and skulks behind scenes. Where, if I did my job correctly, it will then haunt you, dear reader.
Feel the fear. Then use it to make yourself and your writing stronger.
I probably haven't tapped into my own fears as much as I should. And I used to dream someone was breaking in until we got an alarm system.
ReplyDeleteI might channel the fears into different scenarios. Instead of a character experiencing a break in, he or she is being chased instead.
DeleteThis week holds an underlying current of fear, and I tried to take my own tenseness and unease and come up with a halfway positive post.
A nice reminder. And so true that sometimes we need to feel it to get it out in the writing--.
ReplyDeleteBurying those feelings can not only sometimes hurt us personally but it can also make our characters and our writing feel flat.
DeleteEver since becoming a fear of The Walking Dead I occasionally have zombie-filled nightmares LOL
ReplyDeleteHa! :) Maybe you need to dream you have a crossbow and are fighting off those Walkers.
DeleteI had a recurring dream about someone breaking into my house and standing over my bed with a knife for years as an adult. Fortunately, and knock on wood, I haven't had it now in some time. I hope I didn't just jinx myself by writing that. Watch I will have the dream tonight LOL.
ReplyDeleteLove this quote and I hadn't read it before, definitely one worth keeping.
That is so scary! And I REALLY hope this post doesn't trigger that dream again. If it does, maybe you can work the dream itself or the fear it brings into your next book or maybe write a story about it?
DeleteI've had dreams about storms. Tornadoes specifically. I guess it's because we had so many in a row here in the St. Louis area. When I hear a siren, I still freak out.
ReplyDeleteI'm a lucid dreamer, so if my dream is going the way of a nightmare, I can control it and give it a happy ending.
I wish I could twist a nightmare into a happy dream! Sometimes I'll wake up from a nightmare and when I manage to fall asleep again, I'm right back in it. Ugh.
DeleteAlthough I try not to remember my nightmares, I think it's a good idea to tap in to them to capture fear on paper.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great advice, Madeline.
It's funny because I don't remember every nightmare I have - thank goodness! - but usually the feeling clings to me for quite awhile.
DeleteThat's a great quote.
ReplyDeleteThat is also a very scary dream but if it can be put to use scaring your readers...then it was worth every moment of it. IMHO. = )
I'm going to try and tell myself this - "it's worth it, it's worth it, it will make my writing better" - the next time I wake cowering in fear. :)
Deletei like the idea of using fear memories in writing. but i dont like being scared! id rather crack myself up, which i do all the time! ha!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was funny enough to do that! I count on my husband to make me laugh. :)
DeleteThere's a theory I once read which suggested we have nightmares to practise how we'd deal with fear. The fact you can also use it in your writing is a big bonus!
ReplyDeleteThen I'm in trouble because my way of dealing with fear in my nightmares is usually to run and hide. Although, in the one I mention in the post, I am trying to figure out a way to save others...so maybe I'm not such a chicken after all?
DeletePerfect love casteth out fear.
ReplyDeleteIf you love something enough, that love will motivate you through the insecurities. I sometimes think, if we can just catch the vision of one read, just one, who absolutely loves our work, that will carry us forward. Because isn't that it? It only takes one TRULY appreciative heart to have made the effort worth it? (Maybe not fiscally, but in all other regards.)
I think having a true, loyal fan base or people who are moved and touched by our work is so incredibly important and why most - if not all - of us write. Yes, we'd like to make money, too, but I think it's good to remind ourselves of the ultimate reason.
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