No, but, really, why is that?
Going deep
Free write a bit about what frightens you, ruthlessly interrogating everything that comes up by asking yourself “why is that? and why is that?” until you get down to the core of things. Maybe you start with something like “spiders freak me out” but once you start drilling into it, you realize maybe it’s because of that giant spider you found as a kid when you were hiding while your parents were arguing, so the real answer isn’t even about spiders as much as it is about feeling small and afraid and unsafe. Or, maybe you constantly worry about your partner stumbling into danger because your first love broke up with you soon after he broke his arm or leg or whatever. Or, you fret about losing your job because, sure, life, but also maybe there’s also a thread to pull there about not wanting to feel dependent on your partner or about poverty trauma from your childhood. You get it.
Remind yourself that it’s safe to unpack these things and write about them, and by really digging into them, the place where you land might just be incredibly generative for your writing. Let’s try.
