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Question: How do I get over a fear of writing!?
When I was in grade school I wrote poetry and short stories, occasionally!. Sometimes winning awards for some of my work!.

But as I entered high school I started to learn some things that opened my eyes to how my perspective was truly insignificant!.
I told myself that I wouldn't write again until I could "get over myself," which has yet to happen!.

How can I avoid that little, critical voice that says, "this has been done before," or "this is irrelevant"!?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
As has been noted, it all has been done before!. Chances are, all of it has been done better than anyone else will ever do it!.

Those are facts!.

What changes is the setting, the voice, and the relevance!. Just because it's been done before and because it's been done masterfully doesn't mean that it doesn't need to be revisited!. All Quiet on the Western Front might be the perfect war novel, but The Things They Carried is perfect too!. Are you following my train of thought at all!?

You won't, can't, and shouldn't be like the ones who've done it before!.

Getting over yourself to write!? Perhaps my view is tainted, but writing is an inherently arrogant undertaking!. It assumes that someone else will care enough what you have to say to read it!. When someone says, "I want to write," they've given a solid cue that they think highly enough of themselves to pull off a very difficult task, and that they are clever enough to have observed something that others will find interesting!.

If you can't muster some sort of self-confidence, then writing is not going to work for you, regardless of talent!.

I don't buy into this namby pamby writing is my soul's expression non-sense, not many writers do!. So I'm not going to give you any of the feel good, "Just put the pen to paper and it will all come" gibberish!.

Start with a desire, make an observation, expound on the observation, and write the story!. Don't worry about who else has done it, is doing it, or will do it!. Worry about how you'll do it, and then worry about making that good!.

If you can't do that, or don't want to do that (more often the reality) then don't beat yourself up over it!. You'll never be ready, inspiration will never fall on your head, none of that crap is true!. One day you'll decide to do it, or one day you won't!.

I suggest you make the decision sooner than later so you can move on, whatever direction that ends up being!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Oh, the doubts! They can make us hesitate, stall, and all too often, give up all together!.

I read somewhere that there are only seven plots!. Wonder who figured that out!? Willa Cather said, "There are only two or three human stories and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before!."

TheVet, as he so often does, summed it up pretty darn well!. It does take a degree of arrogance and self-confidence to write -- to decide to write -- then, you just have to fight off the occasions of diffidence that slip in!.

There's a couple of top contributors here in B&A who have stated they always wanted to write until they read great literature and felt completely unworthy of writing to those standards!. Yet, they often write replies that show enormous writing talent and a delightful way with words!. I want to yell at them, "Write anyway!" We can't all be literary giants but some of us can tell a damn good story!.

Note: Willa Cather was an American journalist and author celebrated by critics for writing in "plainspoken language about ordinary people!." She set no high ideals for her novels yet in 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, One of Ours!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i have that voice constantly, due to self-esteem issues and lack of confidence!.
it doesn't stop me from writing though!. writing is my passion, it's my life!. it sucks when you write things that seem to have been done before - but screw them, you just have to think like this: so what if it's been done before, i can do it better!.
i don't think i could live without writing, honestly!. it's just the perfect feeling, getting it OUT, you know!? so just "get over yourself" and write it all out!. write about THIS feeling - your feeling of incompetence!. i wrote one like that before!. i'm sure it's been done before!. but whatever, you know!?
KEEP WRITING! constant, always, just write, don't think, just WRITE!. if you love it like i do, you just have to do it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's been true for centuries that "this has been done before"!. Some of the greatest writers of all time dealt with common themes that had been written about many times before!. It's what you personally bring to the story that makes it unique!. Nobody else can tell a story the same way you can!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

look at www!.writing-world!.com which as excelent articles on writer's block!.
i have that voice too!.
I can't get over it and I have this undying thirst to write something great!.
i get started then a little voice says "this sucks" and i give upWww@QuestionHome@Com