Comments on: Learn How to Master Fear Then Put It to WORK

By: Patti Rae

Patti Rae — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:37:33 +0000

Hey Kristen, loved this blog – I laughed right out loud more than once! Mostly because you have a great way of getting your point across, but more so because you have walked in my shoes, and we have to laugh at ourselves, or we’ll be in tears. Thanks for the reality check on trying to be perfect, and the fear that we never will be that keeps us from even trying. But the older I get and the more time that slips past, I realize my time is short, and the last thing I want is to die with regrets – regrets that I was too afraid to see how great I could have been. I’ve challenged myself to see fear as road barricades with blinking warning lights: “Danger! -Comfort zone coming to an end!” And then in my mind’s eye, I see myself plowing through those road blocks and driving over my fears like road pizza, coming out victorious on the other side! And I’m also going to start to use the quote you wrote: You have no power over me. Now that’s a powerful statement. Thanks again for all your encouragement!

By: Lynn Kelley

Lynn Kelley — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 20:12:56 +0000

Ah, I can relate to so many issues in this post. Thank you, Kristen!

By: Cathy Noreen French

Cathy Noreen French — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:48:00 +0000

In reply to Cathy Noreen.

Used the wrong email address for my WordPress account when I made this comment. c4c to get notifications on the thread.

Should add to my resolution… Learn which email address I’ve used where! Grr.

By: Cathy Noreen

Cathy Noreen — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:39:13 +0000

“Are you afraid? Did you see yourself in any of my examples? Pen names, switching genres, unable to finish, stuck in perfectionism?”

Right. I think you need to come out of my basement, Kristen, and just admit you’ve been living in my house. I won’t shoot you. Though, I may look at you funny.

Dammit, dammit, dammit. I hate being a chicken. And I admit, getting a bloody and whimpering manuscript back from a contest has thrown me for a major loop. What was I thinking???

I shoved that thing into a (metaphorical) box, and slammed the lid. Poor, poor book. (Yes, it’s the same first 40 pages… the one you liked. Should have just listened to you. (Yeah, I said it. Heh.)) I need to work this thing through, see if any of those judge’s comments really have value, and get on with it. (But. But. But… So much pain! So much blood!)

And never enter another contest again. Probably should have let the normal people (aka: readers) be the judges.

So this month I resolve to: clean up the blood, finish the manuscript, find a cover artist, and learn how to format for e-pub. Also… join RWA. And try to behave more like a writer and less like a baby.

Hopefully, the book hasn’t turned into a zombie in the time that I’ve been avoiding it, buried there in its box. It might come back and bite me in the ass. No, wait. Zombies don’t bite asses, do they?

I’ll never read or write horror, so will have to ask my daughter, the gaming-pro… (before I do anything else! LOL 😉 )

By: Novel writing month and disappointing half marathons – Kay Jay's self publishing and novel writing career-gap year (and hopefully how not to waste it)

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 09:48:02 +0000

[…] question….. On that note, I read another very thought provoking article by Kirsten lamb here which talks about the need for perfection as one of the enemies of progress!!! All I’m […]

By: Denise McGee

Denise McGee — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 03:00:15 +0000

You hit all my bugaboos with this post. I even recently thought about using a pen name. Registered a URL for it and everything.

Running away is so much easier than facing your fears. Time to put on my big girl panties, though. Nano is the perfect time to bust through some of those barriers I’ve erected for myself. Thank you, Kristen.

By: Deborah Makarios

Deborah Makarios — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 22:45:05 +0000

Getting it wrong and not being able to fix it is the fear that stalks me at the moment. It’s easy enough to just go for it when it’s a first draft, but when it comes to the actual publishing, the stakes seem to have upped.

At moments like this I think of a poem which goes,
“I am the lion in his lair;
I am the fear that frightens me;
I am the desert of despair
And the nights of agony.
Night or day, whate’er befall,
I must walk that desert land,
Until I dare my fear and call
The lion out to lick my hand.”

Here, kitty kitty kitty…

By: Christie Craig, AKA C.C. Hunter

Christie Craig, AKA C.C. Hunter — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 22:09:24 +0000

First, thank you Kristen for mentioning my book, The Mortician’s Daughter. Second, I love this blog. It hits on something I deal with, and I think most writers deal with. My grandmother used to say a little fear in the belly is good for you. And I know what she means, but that monster can also stop me dead in my tracks. I’m getting better at fighting it, but it still can twist my guts up and make it hard to breathe. I just keep looking back at the times I was afraid and did the thing that scared me in spite of the fear. One of those things changed my life, and my career. But I still haven’t mastered that beast completely.

Thank you for lighting a little fire under my butt.

By: Debbie Johansson

Debbie Johansson — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 21:32:07 +0000

Thanks for my first laugh of the day with Exhibit A. To be perfectly honest, I’m guilty of all four of those masks that you mentioned. I really appreciate that kick in the pants that I need. Your posts lately have certainly given me something to think about! More procrastination? 😉

Thanks also Kristen for those book recommendations. I’ll be sure to add those to my reading list.

By: Amy tasukada

Amy tasukada — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 20:57:29 +0000

I have to agree with this so much. You have to make time to write. I started waking up at 4:45am to get 2 hours of writing done before heading to work. I didn’t do it all in one day and it took maybe a month for the habit to fully form but since then I’m about 29/30 with getting those 2 hours in.