What’s Scary for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

It’s that scary time of the year again! But what do writers find scary? It turns out there are plenty of things in a writer’s life to give you stress, scares, or anxiety. Here are just a few of them.

Promo. Whether it’s advertising or newsletters, promo is one of the most dreaded activities for writers. Ads can be complex, time-consuming, and costly. Newsletters are time sucks, too, and it can be tough to come up with solid content.

Public speaking. This is a big one for a lot of writers (and writers aren’t the only ones who struggle with it.) I have a post with public speaking tips coming up soon. :)

Major revision. Need to change the book’s POV? Change the protagonist? Change a timeline or two? These are the nightmare scenarios that keep writers up at night.

Writer’s block. If you want to write and you can’t, it’s pretty scary.

Burnout. Not at all fun. With burnout, you can actually write (unlike writer’s block), but the output is rarely great. A little self-care will usually do the trick.

Social media. This often goes hand-in-hand with promo, but because it’s more about relationships, it happens all year instead of just around release time.

Deadlines. These are not just for traditionally published writers. If you’ve got a date set with a freelance editor or your book designer, there are things you’ll need to complete before you get started with your team.

Do you have anything to add to the scary list? And happy Halloween!

Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay