We talk a lot about fear of failure here, so it seemed only fitting that I would resurrect an old quote that I had mentioned in September of last year and make it this week's motivational quote.
"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."- Elbert Hubbard
Elbert Hubbard was a philosopher, lecturer, critic, publisher, novelist, essayist, and biographer. The son of country doctor, he worked on a farm and then held several jobs. After marrying his first wife, he set up a printing shop for The Philistine magazine. He and his second wife, Alice, died when a German torpedo hit and sunk the Lusitania.
While Hubbard discussed learning and fear of failure or making mistakes on more than one occasion, this particular quote touches upon something that can truly cripple an aspiring author.
In the poll we have going on right now about what keeps you from being committed to your writing, fear of failure is tied for the top spot with time. And one must wonder how many of those surveyed would find the time if they weren't crippled by fear.
Hubbard considered being afraid to make a mistake as the greatest mistake humans can make in regards to achieving their dreams. I want you to think about Hubbard's quote this week, and then I want you to write down on a piece of paper what you think will happen if you receive a rejection on a manuscript you submit.
Feel free to share some of your list here so that we can discuss them.
1 comment:
I loved this post. I agree. I find that the feat of success is a great deterrent to authors. They usually don't identify it as such, but it's true. Another fear that keeps them for writing and/or publishing is the fear they will be plagiarized.
Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author of the multi-award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
Blogging at Writer's Diges Top 101 Websites www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
Post a Comment