Fear of Failure?

[Brutal_One]

I just received a beautiful book - “Middle-Earth” - From Script to Screen. Published by Weta Workshop.

In the prologue Sir Peter Jackson writes {excerpt}

‘.....I believe fear is the most valuable creative incentive you can wish for. In the world of film-making, if you’re not frighted of failure you won’t produce your best work.’

Discuss as it pertains to your writing, if it ever does.

Brutal One

 

[Jada59]

I just received a beautiful book - “Middle-Earth” - From Script to Screen. Published by Weta Workshop.

In the prologue Sir Peter Jackson writes {excerpt}

‘.....I believe fear is the most valuable creative incentive you can wish for. In the world of film-making, if you’re not frighted of failure you won’t produce your best work.’

Discuss as it pertains to your writing, if it ever does.

Brutal One

Hmmm... I have no fear.

 

[jaF0]

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

[Brutal_One]

Why didn't you start by sharing your thoughts about this?

According to me, being frightened paralyzes, which is rarely constructive. For some stories you might need to be careful, whereas being bold and writing without restraints sometimes results in masterpieces. It really depends on the writer and the work.

No I don’t have fear of writing myself but the quote when I read it made me think. I agree it’s better to try and fail (not that failure is correct anyway, if you’ve published you’ve succeeded)- it’s the reaction to the response that matters.

Brutal One

 

[lovecraft68]

I get what he means in general, and I've heard others say fear is a good motivator, but in the sense maybe of fear of failure or not trying hard enough...I don't think they mean literal clawing gripping fear.

As an aside anytime I hear Peter Jackson's name I think...the guy that gave us Lord of The Rings also created Meet The Feebles...and if you've never seen it...I'm not recommending you do.

 

[Voboy]

I think Jackson's quote is understandable. And I'm afraid of a few things.

But writing for Lit is not one of those things.

There is zero pressure here. Zero stakes. It's all for fun. Jackson, if he failed in making LOTR, faced the loss of millions of dollars, the joblessness of an entire studio, and a blow to his own career. I, if I "fail" in the way a story is received here, face... nothing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For some stories you might need to be careful, whereas being bold and writing without restraints sometimes results in masterpieces. It really depends on the writer and the work.

This. I've written a few stories where I've thought, if this goes wrong it will go badly wrong (they didn't). I embarked on my Arthurian novel length thing thinking I was a good enough writer to give it a go, knowing that it was either chutzpah or hubris. That one worked out okay. One of my very best pieces, for me a short one of 8k words, I reckon I wrote in about ten hours including edit time, and had no idea what I had until my betas said, do you know what you've got here? Sometimes not knowing what you're doing removes any concern about doing it wrong.

So fear? No. Confidence in what I can do? Yes. Stupid enough to even begin? Most of the time.

 

[KeithD]

It doesn't apply for me in writing erotica, no.

 

[R. Richard]

The only real fear that I have in writing is that my writing doesn't sell to cash customers.

 

[Brutal_One]

So fear? No. Confidence in what I can do? Yes. Stupid enough to even begin? Most of the time.

Excellent! I that. Why stupid though? As Madonna would say “Express yourself!”

It’s probably true that most people will not have the fear that Jackson talks about because it will seldom be a Do or Die venture. But the fear to even start?! Why worry, just take the plunge and get it down on paper! In the current situation most people have time on their hands, so writers just write! Your readers are waiting! Brutal One

 

[Blind_Justice]

The first time I hit that "submit" button, eight years ago, I was afraid people would laugh me off the Internet for my attempt at writing smutty cyberpunk. That fear has gone away mostly, but there is always a lot of nagging self-doubt when I write. "Did I get my thoughts across well enough? Did I write it so anyone other than me can understand what I was going for?" Sometimes it's so bad I stop midway through a sentence and turn off the computer, do something else until my nerves have calmed down again. I should by now be pretty confident in my skills as a storyteller and plotsmith, but I'm not. Every new story, every new chapter in an ongoing series makes me question myself over and over again.

The only relief are reader reactions, good and bad both. It's a miracle I get shit done like that.

 

[Emirus]

Where there is no sense there’s no fear.

I didn’t have any fear submitting my first story because I thought I was a good writer. Perhaps there should have been fear because I was soon brought down to earth (lol) but two years later I still have no fear (and still no sense).

Writing, amateur or professional, should be enjoyable or what’s the point? It’s nice if readers enjoy my stories but if they don’t there’s not a lot I can do about it. So there’s no fear there. I’ll just keep writing until I get fed up of doing it (I don’t write that many stories anyway) or until I’m no longer here.

 

[SimonDoom]

I would liken what Jackson says to what is often said by some athletes, like Michael Jackson, in sports -- that they hate to lose more than they love to win. The total aversion to losing can be a spur to excellence. I can see how that would apply to something like directing a $200 million dollar movie, like the Lord of the Rings or King Kong.

But I don't think it applies to Literotica stories. I think fear is mostly paralyzing and counterproductive. I think with story-writing, the better attitude is to embrace the positive and just do it without fear of failure. Because, after all, what does failure mean here at Literotica? It doesn't mean much. You win by just doing and doing and perfecting your craft. Fear of failure doesn't really help that.

 

[KeithD]

what does failure mean here at Literotica? It doesn't mean much.

This. This is just a good place to mess around, try things, and get release from writing (or reading).

 

[SamScribble]

I think that if I feared failure I might not start writing. So, no, I don't fear failure. But I do worry. I worry about finding the right 'door' into the story. I worry about getting the right 'voice'. And, until I get there, I worry about finding the end.

 

[ElectricBlue]

But I do think you were careful, when writing stories like 'Rope and Veil', making sure you got the details right? Does it give an extra edge, when writing stories that matter?

That's the one I'm referring to most of all, but even so, researching the detail for that story was one thing, getting it right was another. The affirmative reaction certainly emboldened me, there's no doubt about that, but I knew I was taking a risk, writing something I actually knew nothing about.

That's the story where I coined my notion of erotica with a social conscience, realising that words do matter and can be powerful, and can affect people directly, intimately. So yes, thinking about your question, it does - and I think the trick is to put your heart on your sleeve, give yourself nowhere to hide. Readers respond to that - the "Thank you for sharing" response, as if some readers think it's true. That's when I know I got it right.

When I put my current WIP out, I'll be stepping into the same unknown. We'll see.

 

[KeithD]

We're talking here about writing under an assumed, could-be-thrown-away fake author's name with an anonymous e-mail address, right?

 

[Voboy]

We're talking here about writing under an assumed, could-be-thrown-away fake author's name with an anonymous e-mail address, right?

I know, right?

Some of us have encountered life circumstances that have led to actual, real fear. A few of us have encountered situations in which we could easily have died. We now live with the realizations and epiphanies that sometimes come in moments like that, which (in my case, anyway) has led me to feel things more richly, love people more fully, and think differently about risk. It's given me perspective.

This? This is just words in a computer.

Incentivizing serviceable (or even outstanding) prose on Literotica shouldn't take real fear. If it does, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I know, right?

Some of us have encountered life circumstances that have led to actual, real fear. A few of us have encountered situations in which we could easily have died. We now live with the realizations and epiphanies that sometimes come in moments like that, which (in my case, anyway) has led me to feel things more richly, love people more fully, and think differently about risk. It's given me perspective.

This? This is just words in a computer.

Incentivizing serviceable (or even outstanding) prose on Literotica shouldn't take real fear. If it does, you're doing it wrong.

I think you're dramatizing your own experience at the expense of other people's. If you take time to get to know people, you'll find that more than "some of us" have encountered real fear from life-threatening situations, and far more than "a few of us" have encountered situations in which we could easily have died. I think you'd find many of us have encountered multiple situations of the sort.

That's not the same kind of fear that people are talking about here. The fact that one kind of fear exists does not trivialize the other. Plenty of people who are not afraid of dying are afraid of other things. It's not a contest of fears.

I don't find it frightening, either, but I can appreciate the challenge for people who do. Bravery isn't having no fear. It's facing fear. People were not only brave enough to expose themselves emotionally in their writing, but here in the comments. They don't deserve people coming along and belittling that just to puff their own chest out.

 

[KeithD]

Sometimes people don't only write about sex, but also about things they care about. Getting sensitive things wrong, up to the point of offending people, can make you feel miserable, even while hiding behind a fake-name. Ruben has become more than a 'could-be-thrown-away fake author's name' to me.

I don't fear writing, but I do get a thrill when submitting my stories, and some stories make me more nervous than others.

I care about sex, but that aside, no, I don't get tied up in knots when writing in a fake name, and I write in a bunch of them, separating genres. If I feared failure writing erotica, I doubt I would do it. They are just stories. They aren't babies. And I don't know what would constitute "failure" on Literotica anyway. This isn't the New Yorker; it doesn't come with a paycheck. Getting tied up in whether you get a red H or all the nice comments you'd like is pretty shallow to be getting tied up in knots over.

I'm not into the high drama over writing I see some expressing here--and I've been writing it for decades--a lot of it.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I care about sex, but that aside, no, I don't get tied up in knots when writing in a fake name, and I write in a bunch of them, separating genres. If I feared failure writing erotica, I doubt I would do it. They are just stories. They aren't babies. And I don't know what would constitute "failure" on Literotica anyway. This isn't the New Yorker; it doesn't come with a paycheck. Getting tied up in whether you get a red H or all the nice comments you'd like is pretty shallow to be getting tied up in knots over.

I'm not into the high drama over writing I see some expressing here--and I've been writing it for decades--a lot of it.

[Personal attacks and trolling prohibited per our Forum Rules]

 

[HeyAll]

I definitely agree.

It reminds me of a quote from Mike Tyson. How he was so intimdating before a fight because he was actually scared inside. So he overcompensated.

With writing, if you put a lot of effort, there's a fear of people hating it. Of not getting what you want out of it. A fear of nobody liking it.

So that motivates you to work harder at it to make sure people will enjoy it.

 

[Brutal_One]

In the OP it was the Jackson quote that prompted the thread. It’s clear that the magnitude or risk can’t compete with a Magus Opum like Lord of the Rings, the film was thought could never be made (despite Jackson assuming it already had).

We can never be sure of ‘how many lurkers’ visit this subforum and if they do if they is the fear of writing what stops them? I guess there are more than a few who believe they can’t write. Maybe yes, maybe no.

They say everyone ‘has a good book’ in them. For sure everyone has their own story.

If you write and publish here or elsewhere you are a writer, or author if you prefer. Fact. For sure this forum is excellent if you are writing and publishing and you can share your ideas. Learn if you are willing to listen. Leave your ego for a bit at the door. You can always wear it later.

So many great insightful contributors in this forum. So although the question I would hope there is no fear, but it’s still great to read that there may be some but it is positive and urges you to think and write better. I think that is what Jackson meant though at scale that is beyond what a Lit author experiences.

But yes ‘publish and be damned’. We all have egos. There is joy in writing. No fear.

Brutal One.

 

[Voboy]

That's not the same kind of fear that people are talking about here. The fact that one kind of fear exists does not trivialize the other. Plenty of people who are not afraid of dying are afraid of other things. It's not a contest of fears.

No, but it certainly is a contest of perspectives. Mine is that life is full of things, and that some are more important than others. The degree to which we feel fear ought to reflect the importance we place in those things. We should fear, say, the death of a child more than we should fear, say, a fire that would consume our home but leave our child unscathed.

My feeling is that we've all got scales and hierarchies like that. Writing is of earth-shaking importance to people who must do it for a living: journalists, novelists, screenwriters, etc. They should fear the reception their work receives, insofar as it affects their ability to provide for themselves and those who depend on them.

This? Is not that.

The OP is asking for opinions, and I was happy to give mine. YMMV.

 

[gunhilltrain]

In the OP it was the Jackson quote that prompted the thread. It’s clear that the magnitude or risk can’t compete with a Magus Opum like Lord of the Rings, the film was thought could never be made (despite Jackson assuming it already had).

We can never be sure of ‘how many lurkers’ visit this subforum and if they do if they is the fear of writing what stops them? I guess there are more than a few who believe they can’t write. Maybe yes, maybe no.

They say everyone ‘has a good book’ in them. For sure everyone has their own story.

If you write and publish here or elsewhere you are a writer, or author if you prefer. Fact. For sure this forum is excellent if you are writing and publishing and you can share your ideas. Learn if you are willing to listen. Leave your ego for a bit at the door. You can always wear it later.

So many great insightful contributors in this forum. So although the question I would hope there is no fear, but it’s still great to read that there may be some but it is positive and urges you to think and write better. I think that is what Jackson meant though at scale that is beyond what a Lit author experiences.

But yes ‘publish and be damned’. We all have egos. There is joy in writing. No fear.

Brutal One.

Yes, you can't obsess about what the readers will think. Sometimes I publish things I know won't be that popular, usually because of the subject matter. I do it anyway.

As for Peter Jackson: film making is an entirely different thing. There is a lot of pressure, about schedules and budgets and much else. There is a quote that goes, I think, "A writer needs a pen and paper; a painter needs brushes and a canvas; a filmmaker needs an army."

That appears at the beginning of Final Cut, a book about Michael Cimino and what happened during the making of Heaven's Gate. It was written by one of the movie's producers, and it is worth a read if you want to understand how failure can happen.