Fear and Lust:
want to gain or avoid something. Instinctive. Fear is distress
caused by a threat (or perceived threat). Lust – and I'm
emphasizing the nonsexual sense because we are talking about your
writing
potential – is a craving for something. Both are
powerful desires for something that can cause you to neglect
important activities.
Be Reactive:
Choose how you react! Starting with fear, are you paralyzed or can
you still function? Is the fear reasonable? Since we are talking
about fear in regards to writing, maybe it is reasonable but it is
still holding you back. Recognizing you are afraid is the first
step. The second step is putting words to what you are afraid of.
I think that only then can you mount an efficient offense. For
lust, is this lust or jealousy? Lust is for a person, object, or
abstract without the negative emotions. Is lust for a prize
preventing you from moving forward or is does it motivate you? If
there are no negative effects on your life, there may be no problem.
But if you are neglecting (especially for a long time) other areas
of your writing or your life, there needs to be a change.
Be
Proactive:
Change how you act! Target the area of neglect. Set aside time for
that activity – as much time as you can so you have time to
overcome inner distraction. If you feel you can't write, write down
“I can't write because...” Talk about what is distracting you.
True, this is not your WIP but it is still writing. You are still
practicing writing skills. If the fear or lust is really strong,
look for ways to incorporate an aspect of this preoccupation into a
main character – or even better, different facets into different
characters (desire for social recognition, fear of failure). Then
you have the start of a theme and deeper characters. Imbed examples
of fear or lust throughout your WIP. If you can, have it affect the
important decisions made by your characters. Before you know it,
you'll be writing again and processing the emotion.
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