I Am Convinced that Fear is a the Root of Most Bad Writing

"I am convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing." (Stephen King, On Writing)  I am certain that fear is the reason my writing suffers.  In the past I have made excuses for my writing, or lack thereof, chief among them being that I don't have time to write but when the time presents itself I lack the discipline to enter into a process of writing, afraid of starting a project that will languish unexplored but a non-committal writer.

For a long time I have believed that being a writer meant I got paid to write and the key of becoming a paid writer was pursuing a graduate degree in writing.  That somehow a MFA is a silver bullet that will slay my fears and lack of discipline and rocket me into a life of writing and literature.  While I am sure that it would give me a leg up in the field, it is not the silver bullet I once believed.  I believe there are two things that constitute a writer being a writer.  A person must write and have a readership, or strive for a readership.

There was a time that writers struggled  a solitary existence working at all manners of poetry and prose, sharing their work with a couple of select readers and submitting it to various publications who would then, for a long time, reject their work.  The writers in question would continue a disciplined life of writing until they were no longer rejected or they would give up.  With the endless availability of blogs, a readership is a mouse click away.  It is so easy for a writer to share work with the world at large and full fill the two requirements necessary (in my opinion) to be a writer:  writing and readers.

I have always dreamed of living a literary life, the principles involved have always come fairly easily to me.  I read voraciously and write with competence.  But I am hindered by fear, fear of the work involved, fear of rejection, fear of exposing a vulnerable heart, fear of failing to live up to the work I hold in such high esteem.  I will never overcome my fear if I do not write.  To pursue that which I feel a calling I can find time and muster the energy, of course I can.  The question then:  "will I?"  I hope to God yes.

I can not leave my occupation, work as a carpenter, to pursue writing full time -- I am responsible and called to provide for my family.  I can, however, pursue my vocation, writing, as time time allows and with a disciplined mind.