Take the risk..

Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for starting this group to help authors and aspiring writers conquer their fears. Be sure to stop by AlexjCavanaugh.blogspot.com.
Being free of new insecurities, I wanted to share some advice with all of you.
I think one of the biggest problems authors face is fear. It relates to many things, but one of the biggest is failure. We think if our work is rejected it's a failure. If we get a less than stellar review, we're terrible writers. The thing is, if we want to prevail, we must risk everything. We must put our work out for everyone to see. Realistically, not everyone will like our work. My dad was a wise and gifted man. When I faced disappointment he'd say,"No matter who you are, or what you do, not everyone will like it." Remember that bit of sage advice. We all have disappointments. I can't tell you how many times I worked tirelessly to prepare for a horse show and I lost, or I fell off. It was humiliating, I thought because I worked harder than most, I deserved to win, especially if the winner was someone who only rode their horse the morning of the show and expected to win with no practice. When I was studying writing, I was not so happy to learn about all the weaknesses I had in my stories. But the teachers were kind enough and wise enough to also spotlight the things I did well to encourage me to do better. Writing is like other things; the more you practice, the better you'll become. You learn from disappointments and even failures. When I was learning to jump horses, I fell off countless times. But eventually, I learned what to do to stay on.
Finally, I'd say if you risk putting your work out for everyone to love or despise, you've taken a huge first step. Remember everything you write will be something you cherish. You have edited it till you're practically cross-eyed. You've got an opening with a "hook." You've included enough conflict to peak your readers' interest. You've created believable characters, instead of boring perfect ones. Your ending ties things up nicely. You never would have reached this point if you hadn't taken a huge risk. Congratulations!
website: childrensbookswithlifelessons.com