Fear tells us what we have to do

Blazing Reader,

In yesterday's post, I shared how (having thought I was done) my editor pointed out that my forthcoming novel, All the Humans are Sleeping, was missing a key scene. Without it, the story didn't make sense (which, considering today's upside-down world, might have been a selling point).

Oddly enough, I found I was resistant to writing the scene — namely because I was afraid I couldn't make it interesting enough. Instead, I was tempted to simply add a sentence that summed it up — a cowardly and lazy cop-out.

But then I remembered this quote from Steve Pressfield's The War of Art:

"Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.""

So I picked up a pen and brainstormed a few ideas. Killed most of them. Showed the surviving two to my editor. We both agreed on one. And then I wrote it out. And re-wrote it. And re-wrote it. And hammered away at that new chapter until I couldn't imagine the story being published without it.

If you've ever been guilty of cutting corners on creative projects, then I highly recommend you head over here and buy yourself a copy of The War of Art: https://blazingpinecone.com/shop/the-war-of-art/

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.