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Q&A Could I have a writing phobia?

Honestly, if you have not yet the read the writer who makes you say, oh no, I will never ever be able to be that good, you are not ready to start writing. Despair has to be the starting point, beca...

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:51Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25224
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:44:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25224
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:44:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
Honestly, if you have not yet the read the writer who makes you say, oh no, I will never ever be able to be that good, you are not ready to start writing. Despair has to be the starting point, because only despair at imitation will break you out of the beginner's habit of pastiche and hesitation and get you to the point where you can do something that is genuinely your own.

It may not be immediately obvious at the time it happens, but that despair is liberating. Once you get past it, you will no longer be intimidated, nor will you feel the need to imitate, any other writer you read. Then you can be yourself, which may be good, bad, or indifferent, but will at least be you.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-11-14T00:20:58Z (about 8 years ago)
Original score: 1