An LA's Writers' Lab Writing Exercise in Fear

Because our fears are often mirrored by those of our protagonist’s, Alan Watt of the LA Writers’ Lab has come up with what he calls the Fear Exercise. It goes something like this: write for five minutes as fast as you can starting with “I’m afraid to write this story because. . .” He recommends making a list of as many fears as you can think of. The following is his list from his book The 90-day Novel of the possible fears you may have:

·         I will fail.

·         I will succeed.

·         My family will hate me.

·         I will discover that I am not really a writer.

·         I will discover that I am a writer and then I’ll have to keep doing this.

·         I will die.

·         I am wasting my time.

·         I am not good enough.

·         It will be superficial.

·         I won’t be able to figure it out.

·         I won’t do it right.

·         I will find out I am a bad person.

·         Nobody will care.

·         I will be alone.

Whatever your fears, most writers have them. You may even find that some of your fears correspond to those of your protagonist. Just don’t let your fears stand in the way of your writing. In fact, let them motivate you and even enhance your story. Your readers will be able to relate to your fear. Watt makes this point when he writes, “If we give ourselves permission to write from this raw, vulnerable place, our work becomes relatable.” Don’t fear your fear when beginning your novel, embrace it.  

Choose Yourself: A Review for Writers

Once in a while you run across an informative non-fiction book that is enjoyable to read not just because of its content but because of the way it’s written. The book Choose Yourself by James Altucher is one such book. Mr. Altucher has truly written a page turner using his conversational writing style, uncommon wit and brute honesty. 

The book is written in the second-person viewpoint which further helps Mr. Altucher connect with his audience, which he addresses as “you.”  I chose the following excerpt from his book because it is a good example of showing verses telling in nonfiction writing. Here he is describing or showing rather than telling us about the kind of person who is naïve enough to believe he or she can change anyone’s mind about anything.

Do you really think you are going to change anyone’s mind? I always wonder, who are these people who spend all day on Internet message boards and comments sections getting really angry and trying to prove that their opinion is THE opinion that everyone should have.

And yet, we get sucked in. Some anonymous teenager from Dubai might throw out an opinion that rubs us the wrong way and the next thing we know it’s forty-eight hours later and we are in a drugged-out daze having spent the entire time peeing in a bottle and arguing in vain with this Internet troll. I wish I could say now, “So I went out and interviewed eighty-seven trolls and here is what they are really like.” But I didn’t. Because the trolls disappear. There are 7 billion people on the planet. The guy who disagreed with you is one of them. Good luck finding him.

What is the purpose of an opinion? To prove you’re right? You’re wrong.

Altucher takes the mundane subject of opinionated people and turns it into an entertaining romp. 

To put it simply, the book is about more than opinionated people. It is about saying goodbye to the old employee mentality or old way of thinking and embracing the new entrepreneurial way of thinking. Everything we ever thought of as being safe and secure like college, employment, retirement and government is all crumbling down. We can no longer wait to be chosen for success, we must choose ourselves so that true success may follow. You as a writer are in many ways an entrepreneur. You are creating something that you must bring to market, and your best bet for making money or experiencing success from your work may just be to choose yourself.