Imperfect Information

Fear, numbness, exhaustion, chest tightness, procrastination, lack of ideas, lack of goals, lack of purpose, lack of confidence, anger, frustration, blockage… if you recognize any of these symptoms before, after or while writing, you are probably suffering from writing anxiety.  When the whole process stops being fun and delightful, something is wrong. But, don’t worry, you are not alone. Together we’ll bring joy back to your writing.

First, we need to understand what is causing the anxiety. 

Perfectionism

Your logical brain is forcing you to write a masterpiece and completely exhausting the creative brain in the process. You can’t write a single phrase without the logical brains telling you to reread and rewrite it a hundred times. But perfection doesn’t exist. So, your logical brain decides to postpone the whole project until the creative brain creates perfection. “This is its job.” The logical brain says. Under pressure, the creative brain turns off. Having this ongoing strike inside your mind will give you anxiety. 

Try this: Instead of a long out-of-sight deadline, set smaller goals or missions to be achieved daily. For example, instead of “I have to complete my first draft in three months” try something like “I have to write two pages everyday no matter what”. Daily goals will keep you moving. After completing a mission, reward yourself with internet time.

Positive affirmations to read everyday:

Writing is peaceful and fun

I feel accomplished after a day of writing

I allow myself to write with the flow of creativity

I love to immerse in writing

Writing is my safe place

I am flawed and I like that

I am a prolific author

I always meet my goals

Writing brings me joy

This is the career for me

I’m proud of myself for writing everyday

I allow my creative mind to speak up

Mistakes makes me stronger

I feel stronger everyday

Unstable family

Having negative, critical, violent, abusive, dependent, emotionally distant or bickering family members is a major cause of writing anxiety. Both family problems and writing take a huge amount of energy. You can’t do both at the same time. We end up getting involved in family dramas, but, when it’s time to write, the missing energy causes us anxiety.

Try this: When your family shows instability, look for a safer place in your house. Distance yourself somehow. If they are used to negativity, nothing you do will make them feel better. Actually, sometimes, you trying to help will only make things worse. So, distance yourself. Allow them to do what they wanna do, but allow yourself to be different. Try making new friends as well, even online friends are valuable. They take away your attention from the bad mood. 

Positive affirmations to read everyday: 

I choose to live my life in peace

I allow my family members to live the way they want

I can’t change others, and that’s okay

I am a free person

I am important, my decisions are important

I allow myself to be different

Writing completes my soul

Writing brings me joy and peace

I have many reasons to be happy today

I’m proud of myself for choosing peace

Writing is my safe place

Depression

The lifestyle of a writer is the major reason why depression is so common in our career. For example, no sunlight, no exercise, spending hours in the same position, thinking, thinking, overthinking, enduring loneliness (sometimes even when we are surrounded by people) and the financial uncertainty. Soon enough, your energy drops. What used to make you all excited and happy, now is boring or bothersome. In some cases, you can barely leave bed. Sleeping is a mechanism your body finds to easy the pain in your mind. “Losing” the passion for writing can cause anxiety.

Try this: Exercise every morning, stretch, take a sunbath daily, enjoy happy songs before sleeping, change your workplace regularly, fill your walls with drawings and beautiful images, make small changes in your routine, learn something new, learn a new origami everyday, learn a new language, learn new recipes, change your eating habits, start a blog or a vlog, try new writing habits, find a new restaurant, go out, write somewhere else (like in a coffee shop), write in a different genre and sub-genre, change the age of your characters, change the set, change the plot… you must be wiling to let go of old habits and give yourself something new everyday. 

Positive affirmations to read everyday:

I am surrounded by love

I am surrounded by amazing ideas to be written

I am proud of myself everyday

My career is to make people dream, I’m so cool

I feel excited to start a new day

I feel excited to write

I am going on a journey everyday

I am excited for tomorrow

Writing brings me joy

I allow myself to feel good right now

My heart is smiling

I love smiling

My purpose is feeling good right now

Writing is peaceful

Grief or trauma

If you went through a traumatic event, writing is hard. You no longer understand life as you used to. What you were passionate about doesn’t matter anymore. You are in pain, angry and/or exhausted. These feelings have taken over your mind. Forcing yourself to write will only bring anxiety into equation.

Try this: Give yourself some time, a month, three months or even a year. In this period, don’t worry about writing or anything. Get some rest, watch movies, read books, lots of books, travel, discover the new you. When time comes, you will naturally go back to writing.

Positive affirmations to read everyday:  

I feel better everyday

I am proud of myself

I am brave

I am surrounded by love and peace

Writing gives me a good sense of direction

Writing makes me feel good

I allow myself to cry if I feel like crying

I allow myself to smile

I love smiling

Writing is a good life experience

Good news are coming my way

I am excited for tomorrow

Something amazing is about to happen

I feel light and peaceful

Low self esteem

Feeling bad towards your physical appearance, career/school situation, financial condition, life style and past choices can also lead to writing anxiety. If you are not confident on who you are, you will have a hard time finding confidence in writing. Having a voice requires confidence. And if you can’t respect and appreciate yourself right now, hesitation is the cause of anxiety. 

Try this: Change your physical appearance somehow, buy new clothes, dress nicely at home, change your hair, draw beautiful patterns all over your skin. Don’t compare yourself to celebrities. Stop following celebrities and beauty magazines if they are making you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. Find more realist celebrities to look up to. Give yourself love. No one deserves love more than you. Live in the present, avoid any thoughts about past mistakes or what to do in the future. Live in the now.   

Positive affirmations to read everyday:   

I allow myself to simply be

I am part of this world, which makes me important

I enjoy my body

I feel pretty/handsome, regardless of beauty standards

No one has the same body and face as me, I’m unique

I enjoy my personality

I respect myself

I allow myself to make my own path

My opinion is what matters

I am proud of this body

I enjoy life

My voice is important

My voice is beautiful

I am beautiful

Decidophobia

Or the fear of making decisions. You don’t know in which genre you should write, or which sub-genre. You can’t decide which idea to write, or which character to create. You feel like drowning in an ocean of possibilities. Making a decision is too hard. And you stop yourself from moving forward for the fear of making the wrong choice. Being stuck causes the anxiety. 

Try this: If you can’t decide between two things, think outside of the box. Create a third option and go for it. You can also write all options in pieces of people and pick one randomly. Give yourself fifteen minutes to make a choice, nothing more than that.

Positive affirmations to read everyday:

I am taking the right path everyday

It’s easy to choose

I trust my instinct

I am wise and I always have the answer

I allow myself to decide

I allow myself to move forward

Moving forward is good

I am always taking a good path

I feel confident in my choices

I know what to do and which path to take

The answer is always clear

I just want to add a quick thing about the affirmations. Even if you don’t necessarily believe it, say the affirmation out loud as if you do believe it. Don’t just pick from the list what is closest to what you currently believe–pick an affirmation that states who you want to become.

This is especially true for those self-esteem ones! It’s hard to say stuff like “my voice is important” and “I am proud of myself” when you truly don’t feel that way, but there are studies that show saying stuff like that out loud really does make a difference.

I’ve seen it firsthand, too. One of the most impactful moments on my life was in a mindset class. The teacher brought two classmates to the front of the room. He had Student A hold down Student B’s arms at his sides and asked Student B to try to break free. Student A was a fairly muscled guy, while Student B was rather skinny, so he was able to make a little progress but didn’t get close to breaking free.

Then he had Student B say a phrase ten times: “I am weak and worthless.” And it was SO sad because you could see the light fade from that kid’s eyes as he repeated the phrase. He tried to break free again, and this time was hardly able to budge.

The last time he had Student B say a different phrase ten times: “I am strong and powerful.” You could see he felt a bit goofy saying it, and a little uncomfortable, but the teacher said to speak it with confidence and he did. This time, when asked to break free, he did so really easily.