You'd think the bogeyman was hiding behind the keyboard, people are so afraid of writing. Expressing oneself must figure up there with death and taxes as the most common source of fear. A collection of excuses are trotted out when people say they can't write - lack of time, money, space. The excuses are often masks for fear - but there are antidotes. Does the thought of writing make you quake in your slippers? You are not alone. Read on for a look at ten of the most common writing fears - and what you can do about them.

1 Fear that you won't have anything to say. You do have something to say. Think about the last conversation you had. Did you put forth an opinion? Sure you did. If you are living and breathing, then you have something unique to say.

Antidote:

Think about the things that make you say to yourself, "I should write about that." Start gathering a list of these ticklers that prompt you to want to write. Use them to leap into the writing. Then, do the writing. You will soon see that you have plenty to say.

2 Fear of what other people will think. This is one of the biggest blocks to writing. You may want to write the stories from your past, and by doing so, you may experience catharsis and growth. But what about the other people in the story? You worry that you will hurt your friends or offend your families.

Antidote:

Write the story anyway. Don't even think about it being in print until you have a completed manuscript and are shopping for an editor or a magazine to publish it. If you don't start, you will never know. You may decide after you have written it that you don't want to seek publication. So take the handcuffs off and write the story first. Then worry about what others will think.

3 Fear of not knowing how to write. Writing is a tricky art because we were all taught to write in school. We should know what we are doing when we try to craft a story, right? Wrong. The art of writing takes more than what we learned in seventh grade grammar.

Antidote:

This is one of the easiest fears to tackle. Develop a course of study. You can take writing workshops. You can brush up on grammar and editing. You can use spell check or ask a writing buddy to read your work over for errors.

4 Fear that what you have to say is not unique. It has all already been written. This is a very common fear, and with the glut of information in the world, it does seem to have some basis in fact. What can you add to the already full world?

Antidote: A lot. This is where you, as a writer, are challenged to seek and express your unique voice. If you are writing on a common topic, look for how you can say it in a different way. Exploring your unique voice is an ongoing process. Here is an exercise to help. Start by looking at a few of your favorite writers. In your notebook, write the following:

Name

Genre

Topics

Voice

Then fill in the blanks with information about your favorite authors. For example:

Anne Lamott

Fiction/Personal Essay

Children, writing, life

Her voice is honest, sharp, revealing, funny and inspirational.

Do this for a few authors so you get the feel of how you can identify voice. Then do this for yourself. Read some of your writing aloud and hear the patterns and tone of your writing voice. Get a sense of your unique qualities as a writer. You may wish to free write on this topic. And, to keep the faith, remember that you were given the gift of words and the inclination to write for a reason. You may not know the reason, but your job is to write anyway.

5 Fear of being exposed and revealing yourself. This is such a big deal because writing asks us to put ourselves on the line. When you write something down, it is more permanent, more out in the world, and open for interpretation. Often as a writer you can feel like a target.

Antidote: You already are a target. You as a human being, are a magnet for all the good, bad and blissful that is out there. When I am coaching my clients to something big, they often imagine the worst case scenario. I invite them to imagine the best case scenario. So, rather than think, no one will like my writing and thus no one will like me, think, what if they loved my writing?

The underlying issue beneath this fear may be that we fundamentally want approval. If our writing is good, we are good. If a piece we wrote wins a contest, we are validated. Of course this is a natural human reaction. I challenge you to untie the threads that bind your self-esteem with your writing. This will be an ongoing process. But know that your work may be good and that does not mean you are good, and your work may be bad but that does not mean you are bad. Practice non-attachment.

6 Fear of not being able to choose between so many things. Creative people are often flooded with inspiration. One idea comes and others quickly rush in to build upon it. This can feel great - the flush of exuberance and wonder as we revel in the possibilities. Like an effusive fireworks display, our ideas flare and fade if we can't choose and bring them to the page. This pattern can erode our trust in ourselves that we can accomplish things, that we can bring our brilliance through to completion.

Antidote: When inspiration arrives, make sure to capture it in a journal. Keep an ongoing list of things you want to write about. Use these questions to filter through and choose:

What is important about this idea for me right now?

If I had only one more month to write, which idea would I focus on?

Then choose one idea and follow it until it is complete. Become familiar with the phase of creation that follows the original impulse. Learn how you are when you are committed to a project.

7 Fear that you will not be able to complete work. This fear goes alongside the one I mentioned above. When we live in the idea zone, our completion muscle becomes weak and underdeveloped. We lose trust in ourselves that we can complete something.

Antidote: Start small. Choose one idea for a story or essay or whatever you wish to write. Choose a start date and a completion date. Choose a way to celebrate the completion, whether it is treating yourself to a special outing, buying yourself a new journal, or something luscious for you. Your goal may be to complete a draft of a story, to fill up a journal, to complete a chapter of your book. Give yourself permission to do it badly. Don't worry about the quality yet, just focus on your intention to complete something.

Tell someone you trust what you are doing (you can e-mail me with your intention if you'd like.) Then, step by step work toward it. As other ideas come up, put them in your idea journal and stay with the project in front of you. Trust that you can complete work and enjoy the process of developing that muscle. There is a lot more involved in the process of completion but this should give you a place to start.

8 Fear of failure. When we set out to write, we are often paralyzed with fear about the quality of our work. What if our writing stinks? What if we are not good enough to get published? These are very common and very real fears. How do you know if you are good enough?

Antidote: You never know until you try. Fears thrive in a vacuum of action. When we loiter around our dreams thinking about them, the fear of 'not good enough' has a lot of fodder to feed upon. There is no proof yet that your writing is good, only a hunch. Fear hates a moving target, so the best antidote for this is to plunge in and see. Write even if the fear sits with you at the keyboard or pen. This is often the case, and I have found that if I just keep going, keep moving my hand, I can out write the fear. It is useful to set aside any expectations of writing well, and simply focus on writing. You can work on editing and making it good later. For now, just write. Also, leave thoughts and expectations of publishing at the door for now. Do the writing and trust that when you are ready to submit your work, you will have the necessary tools to do so.

9 Fear of success. Many of us harbor a secret fear of our greatness. What if we are successful? Take a second now to see if any of the following are true for you. If I am successful, I will: lose friends, lose money, be unhappy, have nowhere to go, have to work harder. Fill in the blank about your own fears of success.

Antidote: Success is a subjective measure. What is writing success for you? Take some time to identify what successful writing means for you. Perhaps you want to publish books and make a lot of money. Or, success may look like being perfectly happy writing in your journal and the world never needs to see it for you to feel like a successful writer. Set your target so success is defined on your terms. From there, you may feel more comfortable moving toward that success.

Once you have identified your success, take measure of the tools and gifts that you have to help you achieve it. Note your talents, your allies, your resources. Make sure that perseverance is on the list, since that is the most valuable asset for any writer. Then, keep a log of your successes as they come. Track them, celebrate them, and notice how you live with them. Train yourself to believe that you can handle success, and enjoy it!

Assignment:

Take moment now to jot down some of your writing fears. Notice what happens when you write them. Do they appear to be more or less true now? What antidote pops up for you? Write your own antidote.