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How To Overcome Writer’s Anxiety
What I’ve done when anxious feelings get in the way of my writing.
I’ve often struggled with writing due to my anxiety. I sometimes get so in my head about whether my work will be any good, or how it will be received, that I end up spending more time stressing than actually writing. I’ve experienced this with all kinds of writing, from fiction to professional memos. What’s more, anxiety can interrupt any step of the writing process.
Fortunately, I’ve been writing for many years now, and along the way, I’ve discovered a few ways to get past the anxiety. If you’ve struggled with your own writing-based anxiety, I hope these can tips can help you too.
Brainstorming and Rough Drafts
Occasionally, I’ll get so anxious about what to write that I can barely get a word on the page. I’ll end up rewriting a single sentence for ten minutes, or even just give up and come back to the project later.
The best way that I’ve found to break through this is to carefully divide my writing process into discrete steps: brainstorming, drafting, and editing. Doing this takes off a lot of the unnecessary pressure that I’m putting on myself.
In the brainstorming step, I just get down any thoughts I have onto a page. I go out…
