“I’m convinced fear is at the root of all bad writing…”

In his memoir…

Which was a best-seller I might add… Stephen King writes:

“I’m convinced fear is at the root of all bad writing.”

Fear of judgement… of course.

But more often, fear of embarrassment. Fear of looking like a fool. Fear of saying something you might later regret. But there it is, in all its published glory for everyone to point and laugh at for all eternity.

Truth is, no one cares.

Internet trolls might care for a minute. Heck, they might remember what you said for the rest of their lives. But it’s really not that serious. We’re all a work in progress. And if you say something stupid that you later regret. You can simply acknowledge it and say, “Yeah, I used to think it was like that. But now I think it’s like this.”

And people will respect you a lot more for being wrong, than being boring.

Unforgiveable.

Do not, ever, be boring (in you’re writing).

Be boring at work. Do the mundane tasks that make your work magnificent. But in your writing, do not be boring.

So how to eliminate the fear that keeps you holding back?

Simple…

Draft and edit in separate sessions.

First session, keep it private. Do not edit while you write. Just let it all hang out (after all, no one but you is going to see it right?) This is where you tell YOURSELF the story. Your creating and rewriting your life’s heroic story one day at a time, moment to moment you’re writing the words that bring your story alive.

Include all the twist and turns and side stories and intricate details without worry some judgmental or unscrupulous outsider will be peeking in, looking to point fingers and have a good laugh at how silly you are in your private life.

Don’t even let YOU judge you.

And if you do, just accept that it’s happening and move on. Don’t even judge the judging.

Just write.

Write and write and write and write.

Because editing while you write is like riding a bike with the brakes held tight.

You’ll not go far. And it won’t be fun.

Then you can simply just give your words some space to breathe. To meld in your unconscious. To muddle around and form new connections in your brain as you laugh, and play, and sleep, and work. And then, 24-48 hours later when you come back…

You can easily and effortlessly remove everything that’s not the story.

The unnecessary details.

The need to explain yourself.

The need to include every little nuance that tells yourself why you do what you do.

And just include the most important stuff while allowing your reader to fill in all the other details with THEIR own story.

Because no one wants to really read about you, they want to read about themselves.

They want to see themselves in your stories.

In you work.

And recall vivid imagery from their own lives to help them fill in the gaps of their own heroic story.

And when you draft and edit in separate sessions you get the live the experience of your own life story first, then reveal it to your readers in such a way that they get have an experience too. And then get to fill in all the gaps with the moments and experiences that are decidedly special to their own lives.

Same is true for emails.

Same is true for content.

And in this weeks update to 15 Legendary Writing Secrets, you get a behind the scenes look at the writing system I use to draft and edit everything I write in separate sessions (while saving time, effort, energy, and keeping everything easily organized).

Grab the original now at a discount before the price goes up and you’ll get the update next week free.

Here’s the link:

https://kevinhood.me/legendary

Best,

Kevin Hood