If you desire to grow and improve as a writer whether to feel confident with your grammar, sentence construction, or crafting outlines, the best possible action to overcome your fear of writing is to PRACTICE and just write.
But what if hindi ka pa lang nagsa-start magsulat pero nao-overwhelm ka na sa mga self-limiting thoughts and beliefs like âwhat if people will judge my content?â, âwhat if the reader wonât like it?â, or âwhat if theyâll get offended when they read it?â
In todayâs blog post, youâll learn ways to overcome your fear of being judged as a writer so that you can start writing and publishing your articles with ease. Then eventually, youâll become confident and better at your craft so you can land writing clients.
- The 3 Writing Fears that is Causing you to Feel Stuck or Overwhelmed right now
- Your First Step Before you even start writing so youâll feel more calm during the process
- Simple and Actionable Ways to Feel more confident so youâll write and publish articles fearlessly
Ways to Write and Publish with Confidence
Now, I canât guarantee that everything youâll discover in this blog will be mind-blowing or something brand new but..
I AM CERTAIN THAT THEYâLL BE IMPACTFUL and could move you to take your next best action so youâll be uprooted from feeling stuck for Iâm not really sure how long. 
 Since when ka nga ba stuck?
No. 1: Embrace the Fear of Writing
No matter how careful you are..
No matter how much time, effort, and love youâve poured into your written content such as your blog, book, or social media post..
No matter how youâve planned out on how to distribute your content..
I’ll be honest, there will still be chances that things wouldnât go exactly as you envisioned.
Here are three (3) common writing fears that are causing you to feel stuck or overwhelmed right now:
Fear of Feeling Not Good Enough
Many of you here raised that youâve been comparing yourself or your work or progress with those who have been ahead or more successful than you.
đ Healthy Habit: You are seeking to improve so you check other writers’ stories and works and learn from them. If this is true to you, please continue.
𪍠Unhealthy Habit: However, if youâre feeling afraid that you might not pull things through like how the other writers have been doing and youâre questioning why theyâre doing things better than you, itâs time to let go of this mindset.
How?
Define your own success and celebrate your own progress – big or small.
- First step: Set small and attainable goals, schedule, and reward yourself when you achieve milestones.
- Second step: Make time to reset and appreciate your own progress - be present and intentional in acknowledging how far youâve come compared from the past week or month.
- Third step: Connect with fellow writers, share your work, and be open to receiving feedback.
Tamang-tama iyong 30-day Just Write Challenge natin for this third step. Join the Facebook Group so you’ll get notified whenever we run the #JustWrite Camp.
Fear of Judgment
When writing an article, email, or social media post, do you think a lot and feel overwhelmed even before you type the first letter or word?
Itâs not really that easy to know the root cause of why youâre overthinking and feeling that people might judge you or criticize your work.
Thereâs one thing that has been an obvious reason for why you feel this certain writing fear though. Past experiences, ganern.
Kunyari, nung studyante ka pa, mahigpit ang competition sa school. Ang nangyayari, instead of focusing on how to write an essay that is impactful to your reader, ang una mong ini-impress ay iyong professor or teacher mo.
There is more friction or pressure kasi iyong standard ng teacher ang finu-fulfill mo. That makes the process of writing even more difficult and overwhelming.
My daughter reached out to me one day saying that sheâs having a hard time writing her essay:
âWho are you writing your essay for and why are you writing it?â I asked.
In your case, let me ask, why do you want to become a writer? Who will you be writing for? And why do you want to write for you or for this group of people?
Once youâre able to answer these, youâll get clarity and things will become easier. Youâll be more focused on who needs to see and read your content than who wouldnât appreciate it.Â
Fear of offending other people
With social media, thereâs an increase in the fear of being publicly humiliated, criticized, or accused of something we didnât intentionally do or cause.
Aside from that, some writers, like Arah, are really careful not to cause harm to their readers.
In addition to that, we know too that there are certain topics that really need to be reviewed by professionals so that it wonât be seen as disrespectful to some certain groups, tribes, culture, or religious sector.
Remember that itâs okay to not have all the solutions to every problem that your readers have.Â
Like most experts always say, be prepared when criticisms come – think of it as part of your growth. You want to improve right? Go ahead and make mistakes then learn from it.
No. 2: Always Start with Research
If youâve done enough research to check the facts behind the information you want to share, thereâs a lesser chance na maka-offend ka ng ibang tao. The fear that youâre feeling right now might be rooted from the fact that you have less information about the topic youâre writing about.
If sensitive ang topic mo, like for example iyong sinulat kong book about domestic violence, be mindful of cultural beliefs or the language or words so you know what youâre going to use.
What I did in my research part was interview at least 5 domestic abuse victims and survivors so that Iâll have different stories to share in the book. This also helped me understand the terms my fellow survivors are using and what they believed about their situation. This way, the readers can also have an idea that what theyâre going through may not be exactly the same with whatâs shared in the book but they still feel heard and understood.
Next, I talked to a psychologist who has handled domestic violence cases to learn their perspective about the project then later on requested if she could read my draft. I was also open to her thoughts and feedback. In addition, I reached out to social workers, police officers handling VAWC cases, lawyers, and Christian friends.
Another important thing to note is to avoid stereotyping.Â
Sometimes, we get so carried away by our emotions and express things inappropriately. But you see, weâll never know unless we try, right? The good thing is that we learn from our mistakes and improve along the way. Again, in cases you make mistakes, admit it, and apologize.
No. 3 Write for the people you serve
Why are you writing your piece? Why do you want to write a blog, book, e-mail, or social post?
If youâre not writing for yourself, obviously, youâre writing for the people you want to help with your content.
Write with a genuine passion to serve. By doing these, you can craft engaging content that will make your audience feel as if youâre talking to them face to face.Â
The end result? Youâll get them to take action on the next step you want them to do. Example: If you want them to subscribe to your e-mail list or follow your page, itâs easy for them to act on it.
Second, writing with a purpose to help your readers have a huge impact on your journey to overcoming your fears as a writer. It immediately shifts your mood from trying to impress to coming from a place of empathy and just sharing your content to help other people with their problems.
Hereâs a quick tip to do this effectively:Â
Think of your reader then put yourself in their shoes. Imagine what itâs like to be in their situation based on the research youâve done earlier. From that mode, write your content as if youâre talking to that person and offer the solution that you have right now.
8 years ago, I was not that confident to write or publish my works like you. Marami din akong self-doubts or limiting beliefs na kinalaban.
One of which is katulad nung saâyo â baka pagtawanan lang iyong article ko kasi napaka-simple, walang malalalim na English words, at minsan pa mali mali ang aking spelling at grammar.
I canât even say âI am a writerâ confidently.
So, what did I do to overcome this?
That tip above helped a lot!
No. 4 Stop revising while writing
Donât feel bad if youâve been doing this, bes. This is actually a common habit for writers. However, it does lead to frustration and sometimes – writerâs block and creative overwhelm.
Try to understand that serving the right people who need your content is not about perfection. And if your goal is to become better at writing, your main focus is progress. You only do that when you keep writing and stop revising. Making your manuscript, blog, e-mail copy, or social post will come after.
As a wellness and fitness copywriter, I am a strong advocate of making writing as a form of a wellness activity even if youâre writing for a client or other people. Itâs important to know that it can be really therapeutic and exciting to write.
Revising your content too often does the opposite. It increases your anxiety levels and later on leads to lose of self-confidence because youâll feel as if you canât pull it through. That itâs taking you too long to do it. Hindi mo lang alam, nasa-stuck ka lang because youâre already editing your work even before pa ito matapos. Just keep writing! Set a schedule for proofing, editing, or revising.
Deal?
No. 5 Use Tools to Help you Produce Quality Content
Another root cause of your fear of writing is the thought of not publishing quality content like poor grammar, unattractive headlines, boring stories, etc.
Well, make writing fun by being friends with tools like Grammarly, ChatGPT, Yoast SEO, headline generators, and others.
âBut this might not write my tone or voiceâ, you might say.
Of course, thatâs given my friend, using tools might affect the output that you want but letâs talk about balance.Â
Here are some ways to illustrate that better
- Use the tools such as Grammarly for proofing when youâre done writing your draft
- Use ChatGPT to get topic ideas and not rely on the content it generates – still write your own in your personal voice and tone (or coach ChatGPT on how to do that?)
- Use Yoast SEO to monitor details that might help your blog to rank on search engines
See? By making friends with them, I actually meant to be partners with them, not make them your slave and do the work for you – thatâs not what friends are for. luh! đ
And well, if you have friends like these tools, I donât know if youâre still going to think or feel that youâre not good enough as a writer.
No. 6 Establish an Accountability System
âNo man is an islandâ – I strongly believe in this. Just imagine if youâre around people who really value you as a person and talks the same language.
Being accountable means owning your own process as a writer and this helps overcome writing anxiety when itâs installed properly with a team or buddy.
Hereâs how to establish a strong accountability system for your writing journey:
- Set clear and attainable goals that work for you and not based on what other writers have been doing. Remember that this is your journey and your accountability group and buddy have their own path to take too.
- Motivate each other by cheerleading and sharing your feedback to your accountability buddy.
- Establish good discipline by reminding each other to stay away from distractions and focus on your own specific goals.
- Create trackers or any form of system to monitor your progress and notice how far youâve come. By doing this, youâre instilling gratitude and positivity.
- Celebrate with your buddy or accountability group when they share their wins. Know that this builds up their confidence and youâll gain the same when they celebrate with you
No. 7 Seek Feedback: Ask for help
Obviously, asking for feedback may raise fear of being judged as a writer but itâs also crucial if you want to eventually improve and conquer your fears.
It helps you to:
- Understand your strengths and weaknesses as a writer
- Get a fresh perspective about your work and avoid overthinking
- Decrease your writing anxiety because with growth, youâll notice increase in confidence and shift of mindset
- Write engaging content because you already have other peopleâs or your audience inputs which makes it more relevant to other readers
- Write more efficiently and produce better results
Seek feedback from those people you already trust. If you have an accountability group, reach out to them. If you have someone in your network who might be a beneficiary of the solution youâre sharing in your content, ask if what you shared resonated to them and what needs improvement.
Remember that whatever feedback you receive is addressed to your written piece and itâs not a definition of your whole self as a writer. Join us in the Freelance Writing Side Gig Community – the Inkfluencer’s Haven to be with fellow writers who want to make writing fun, calming, and soul-filling.
Conclusion: Overcome your Fear of Judgement
If all else fails, how about using a pseudonym?
Like I said in the beginning, I am no mind-reader and I donât know whatâs really causing your fear of being judged as a writer but one of the ways I was able to overcome fear of writing and putting out my work out there is ‘hiding’ behind a pen name.
It helped BIG TIME for me to take that first step. After all, thatâs actually the hardest part – to just do step 1 and then before you know it, youâre already consistently taking more actions.
Remember: youâre writing NOT to please everyone. So zoom in on your purpose, your readers’ needs, and the impact that your content may leave on others.
Now, if youâre looking for a way to help you take your first step, embrace your fear of writing, learn how to write with a purpose, practice writing without revising, and establish a strong accountability system, I am inviting you to join the Freelance Writing Side Gig Community.
Join today and be with like-minded writers (seasoned and aspiring) who have the same mission like you.Â
If not today, when will you be ready?Â
đ If youâre already tired of procrastinating things in your writing journey.Â
đ If youâre already fed up with the voices in your head telling you that youâre not good enough for this.Â
đ If youâre ready to take on the challenge and make something different so you donât feel imprisoned in your current job.Â
đ If youâre wanting to make an impact and leave this world with a legacy that youâll feel youâve fulfilled your purpose – this is a sign.
Come join us today, after all – ITâS FREE!Â