Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway...
When I set out on my quest to write my boys a story, I did what any writer does and put pen to paper. I created a new world for them (one with a talking Stag Beetle, in case you’re wondering!) but I never dreamt it would be the beginning of a whole new world for me too. I thought (somewhat naively, I know) that writers write. I thought these ethereal beings sit on their writing cloud and write. Only coming down to earth to their editing cave, blinking back into the real world once they were done. That’s it. End of story. But it's only the beginning. . .
Writers do so much more than the actual writing. There is a whole host of other ‘stuff-that-writers-do-apart-from write’. ‘Stuff’ which can be quite scary for writers who exist alone on clouds and in caves!
There are two things, under the 'stuff'-that-writers-do' umbrella'' that make my stomach squirm. The first of these was twitter. In the early days, I found the eavesdropping on conversations akin to rifling through someone’s knicker draw- incredibly uncomfortable and not something you should do without permission. But, I lurked and learned and I’m so glad I persevered (with twitter, not knicker draw rifling!). The writing community on Twitter are supportive, kind with their time and free with their knowledge and they welcomed me into their world. What was once a teeny bit terrifying is now part of my daily routine.
The second of the 'stuff-that-writers-do-apart-from-write' which does a lot more than mess with my stomach is . . . School visits. The recent #ukmg chat tells me that I'm not alone in this.
I’m a college lecturer and I’m used to standing up in front of an audience so it should be easy, right. Wrong! Teaching curriculum is not the same as baring your soul to the world. The thought of standing in front of an audience of children was something I shied away from until recently, when I decided to 'Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway’ (Thanks Mum and Susan Jeffers). I didn't just feel that fear, I grabbed it with both hands. I devised workshops for schools and set up a website to promote these. I was prepared to feel this fear big time! I’m not going to lie, the first few class workshops were powered by no sleep, no food and really strong coffee. But each one got easier. Now, I can sleep, eat and I don’t deliver sessions with a sweat moustache… that’s progress for you!
However, even with workshops and After School clubs under my belt- the author assemblies are an altogether different beast. 30 kids I can cope with, but my knickers are well and truly knotted at the thought of 250+. So, I turned to twitter...
I put a call out to see if any authors would allow me to tag along and see them in action. I was more than happy to feel the fear, by proxy. My call was answered by the ever helpful and truly supportive author of The Dreamsnatcher, Abi Elphinstone via the fantastic book blogger Michelle Toy.
So, this morning I found myself at Michelle’s son, Corey’s school in Nuneaton witnessing the inspirational Abi in action in a whole school assembly. I don’t know who was the most excited me or the children. I was so enthralled by her talk that I had to sit on my hands to stop them shooting up to try answer the questions. I felt comfortable in the environment, and whilst I appreciate that it’s a game changer when you’re the one at the front talking, it did take some of the mystification out of the whole process.
Abi talked of her journey to publication and the importance of perseverance if we want to achieve our goals. Her message was about not being so scared of failure that you stop trying. Watching Abi, I thought perhaps the fear ever goes away, but you learn to deal with it and control it. One thing is for sure, you’ll never know if you don’t try.
I’m still feeling the fear, but I''m most definitely going to do it anyway (maybe after watching a few more #Authorsinaction first! Any takers?)
In the infamous words of JK Rowling …
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”
A huge thankyou to Abi for allowing me to tag along; to Michelle for pointing me in the right direction and to Corey’s school, Middlemarch Foundation School for having me. You have all been brilliant!
If you are an Author and you would be happy for me to come and see you in action, please get in touch. tizziefrankish@outlook.com
