// How to Overcome Writer’s Anxiety// Writing with Abandon

What writing means to me:

A few weeks ago, my professor assigned a mere paragraph constituting my personal opinion on writing.
“Oh, this will be easy.. pssh. No big deal.”
The moment I sat down to write, my mind went blank. “How did I truly feel about writing?” I was under the misconception that I had previously considered this question in depth, however, as I reread the question aloud, I determined that my considerations of writing were rather shallow indeed.

Sure, I loved writing, but what exactly comprises my definition of “love,” or even “writing,” for that matter? Did I enjoy causal writing, research – related writing, nonchalant writing? Hmmm…

Writing is the way in which I express my thoughts. What I struggle to configure in spoken word, writing articulates in print. I admire its sheer capacity to relate serious matters to equally validated opinions. Writing has the power to truly change the world.

BUT

Writing can also be my worst enemy. Whoah, that sure did take a turn for the worst, didn’t it? What I mean by this relatively abrupt proclamation is this: I genuinely love to write, but there are certain circumstances in which the anxiety that accompanies writing ruins the experience in its entirety. I compared such a phenomena to that of the dreaded “stage- fright” moment.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.

Let’s just say you are a successful pianist in the making. When you practice without an audience, you mirror the melodious sound of Beethoven, but the moment in which the glaring eyes of an audience meet yours, you sound like your three-year-old niece banging on the keys of her “First Act” plastic piano purchased at your local Toys ‘R Us. *Minor disclaimer: Fear not, I do not have a three-year-old niece, and if I did, I’m sure she would sound absolutely wonderful on her little plastic piano.” But you get the point, right?

Do you also suffer from similar writing anxiety? You’re not alone. Take a deep breath. Write that essay, and rock it. When you relinquish the pressure, you will write with ease… 100% guarantee or the five minutes that it took you to read this post back.

Seriously, just calm down… pretend that you’re writing for leisure….almost like that petrifying rubric and the equally daunting deadline is non- existent. You got this.