Why Be a Fearless Writer?

Last week I started a conversation about fear and declared this year to be “The Year of Living Fearlessly”. I mentioned that writers already hold a certain amount of fearlessness. This week I’d like to go a little further and think about what fearlessness looks like to a writer–and why it’s so important for you to cultivate fearlessness.

There’s a piece from a book review written of John Steinbeck‘s East of Eden that I keep on my desk. It refers to the book as, “A novel planned on the grandest possible scale…One of those occasions when a writer has aimed high and then summoned every ounce of energy, talent, seriousness, and passion of which he was capable…” Now one could say that if a writer is “aiming high”, he is working from ego and hubris. That may be true.

But I think what such aim really requires is fearlessness. Only a fearless writer can dive into the depths and truthfully describe what he observes in the most devastatingly beautiful way he can. Only by facing the fear of your writing not being good enough can you ensure that it will become excellent.

Learning how to handle fear, I believe, is one of the most important skills we can master. The author Matthew Kelly, in his insightful program, Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose, points out that the phrase “Do not be afraid,” appears over a thousand times in the Bible, words often attributed to God Himself. Why is that? Because, as Mr. Kelly says, “God knows the measure of our life is the measure of our courage.”

I believe he’s right, and that’s why I feel it’s important to have this discussion right now. The measure of your life will be the measure of your courage. It is up to you to decide whether you are up to the challenge or whether you will fall short. But I will tell you this: I believe you can measure up to be far greater than you imagine.

© 2010 Sophfronia Scott

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