I’m trying to grow as a writer. And I fear I’m just going to make a fool of myself.
Don’t believe me? Watch this one-minute video of my trying to psyche myself up before an interview that I’m about to do with a novelist:
It’s terrible, right? But I keep reminding myself: we takes risks because that’s how we grow. As writers. As people. So I’m pushing myself way out of my comfort zone but for good reasons:
- To continue to become a better writer.
- To connect with other writers, editors, and agents to learn from them.
- To find new ways to teach writers at the Village Writing School.
At the Village Writing School, my mission is to help other people learn to tell their stories because, hey, your story may be way more important than mine. It may inspire more compassion, more true empathy, more healing. So I want to help you tell it.
Which brings me back to that embarrassing video from above.
I have learned so many skills because of my attempts to grow as a writer and ensure that the Village Writing School succeeds. This includes: graphics, social media, newsletters, organizing events, speaking in public, baring my soul in a newspaper column, and now, online interviews.
Am I good at any of those things? No, I’m only passable. But each of these things has helped me grow.
The interviews I’m conducting are a part of a new online conference I have been putting together called the Historical Fiction Online Summit. I couldn’t be more excited about presenting this event at such an affordable price, but it continues to push me far outside my comfort zone.
I try to think of risk-taking as a package. Yes, I’ve fallen flat and yes, I’ve embarrassed myself. But overall, being able to overcome my fear has been worth it.
If there is something that you think you should do to build your platform or to write the story that burns in you, you should do it. Even if it scares you. It gets easier.
Would you rather be a real person, however flawed, doing real things, or a perfectionist, sitting on your sofa, dreaming of doing things perfectly but never actually doing them?
Challenge=risk=growth=satisfaction.
– Alison