How I got over the fear of sharing my writing - and the reasons when my writing is stuck

I'm in the midst of edits - and some crunchy -re-writes- of my first fiction Book.

This book also has a pre-order up and a hard deadline approaching.

Overnight, I've been feeling the fears that many writers approaching publication get creep back.

I know the resurgence of these scaries are in large part caused by the current pain flare I am experiencing (I have chronic illnesses linked to my stage 4 endometriosis).

Chronic illness does make some of these looming fears seem rational. There are always chances that illness will get in the way of a deadline as when a chronic illness flare up hits - the fatigue and fog and pain make sitting at a desk and concentrating really tricky.

However, I'm trying to learn to accept this and work to control what I can.

And I can stop the other fears that come along - the 'this is not good enough'; 'what if people hate it' - in their tracks.

I have learned that some people will hate what we write because we are never, ever able to write for everyone and anyone - and that is not what we are ever trying to do.

We are writing the books - and blogs and other pieces - that we want to read more of; that excite us; that resonate with us; that we hope will make a positive impact on our ideal readers.

I also know that I can only ever write the best I can at that point; and that feedback on our writing is almost always helpful. It can be painful. It might even be trolling (and we are allowed to ignore that). But we can always learn something from feedback.

Finally, I'm writing this post because I've learned - as a chronically fatigued writer - that sometimes sharing a blog post or a social media caption is better than staying quiet.

Yes, I need to get back to editing work; but I'm not at my best for that writing work today. So, instead, I'll flex some writing muscle for a short period of time. I'll share. I'll show up.

Maybe, I'll even help someone feel a bit better - seen; in good company - in writing this little post.

Here's to tackling our fears; keeping what we can shape in our sights; and writing as best we can.