- The fear of failure.
- Being rejected.
- Being ignored.
- Hard work with no payoff. (Does this ever really happen? It always “pays off” somehow.)
- Query letters. (I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t written mine yet.)
- Writer’s Block. (Which isn’t a real thing, but whatever.)
- Admitting they’re good at what they do.
- Being told they’re not good enough, and never will be. (Anyone who thinks this about you doesn’t deserve your attention anyway. Every writer is good at something.)
- Loved ones not supporting their ambitions. (It happens — it sucks.)
- Trolls. (The Twitter kind.)
- Not being able to finish what they start.
- Never being able to start at all.
- Taking too long/wasting too much time.
- Having their ideas stolen. (Depends on the context, really.)
- Accidentally stealing someone else’s idea. (!)
- Never making it.
- Making it, but totally hating it. (If you find your true niche/method, you won’t.)
- Being judged for giving up. (Let’s face it, sometimes, you just have to walk away and start over.)
- No one ever appreciating how hard they work.
- A really, really terrible client. (They are plentiful.)
- Contracts. (Why so much legalese?!)
- Accidentally getting a fact wrong.
- Negative feedback.
- Losing all your work, e.g., your laptop’s hard drive crashes, there is no hope, there is no light, only darkness.
- Losing all your work, e.g., your laptop’s hard drive crashes, there is no hope, there is no light, only darkness.
- Listicles.
Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is a freelance writer and a nine-time NaNoWriMo winner with work published in Teen Ink, Success Story, Lifehack and USA TODAY College. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food and nerdy things.
Meg Dowell Writes 
YES. Yes to at least half of those- though I hate to admit it! Especially to the query letter. I’m trying to just ignore it and perhaps it will go away…
Thanks for putting these into words :)
You’re welcome :) I’m sure queries aren’t so bad. It’s just so easy to put off writing them haha.
I’ve tried about 10 versions of mine so far. I haven’t found one I like yet, and it seems like every agent I look up wants something different from them :p I’ve promised myself I’m sending some out in the fall though…so we’ll see… If your website writing is any indication, I’m sure that when you get yours done, it will be excellent :)
I appreciate that encouragement haha! I don’t have a book yet that’s been through enough recent drafts to call it ready, but I’ll get there in the next few years, here’s hoping! I’m sure you’ll find the right agent soon too, it sounds like you’re definitely determined enough to make it happen!