essay writing on overcoming fear

8 Bold Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Writing

by Sarah Gribble | 0 comments

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Today I want to talk about fear. Fear of writing, fear of sharing your work, fear of publishing—and how you can overcome it.

Writers face fear on a day-to-day basis.

The self-doubt . The fear of failure. And, oh, the vulnerability.

Writing is hard enough with all the self-evaluation and doubt about your abilities. But then sharing your work with other people so they can critique or review it? CRINGE.

When you sink into that fear it debilitates you. If you let fear hold you back, you’re ensuring you never achieve your goals. You’ll never write that book and you’ll never get published. All because you were too scared.

8 Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Writing

It’s time to stop letting fear control you and get writing. Here’s how:

1. Do what scares you.

When you’re up against something that makes you cringe, ask yourself what the worst-case scenario is. Is it actually  harmful? Unless it’s something like jumping from a bridge into a rocky river or stepping in front of a speeding vehicle, it’s probably not.

Fear is trying to keep you safe. It needs to learn that just because something is scary doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s detrimental to your health. Do what scares you, and keep doing it, and the fear will subside.

This includes fear of our own writing. I'm not saying you have to go write a 90,000 word novel. Start with a short story, or try out some writing prompts.

Aspiring writers might feel intiimdated because they don't think that they are a great writer. The reality is, you can never become a great writer unless you practice—and to practice, you have to write.

Embrace and overcome your fear by putting words down. Start writing, have patience with yourself, and worry about the rest later.

The blank page becomes way less scary as soon as you put words on it.

2. Stop procrastinating.

Your house is already clean enough. That TV show can wait. No, you don’t need to run to the store to pick up a bag of chips.

Figure out when the best time for you to write is and then write.

If you really, truly need a break to clear your mind, set a time limit. Ten minutes of scrubbing the grout with a toothbrush and then get back to your writing.

Ultimately, those who procrastinate will be more prone to writing off procrastination as writer's block—and the more time you spend away from writing, the scary it will become.

3. Learn from criticism.

Criticism is what everyone fears. Not just in writing, but in life. We all want to be liked, to be perfect, to be praised.

Your writing will not please everyone and that’s something you should realize and accept now. Criticism is much easier to take when you go into it knowing that fact.

Don’t just ignore criticism, though. Writing is like everything else in that it requires practice. You don't have to rank #1 on Amazon or make a bestseller list your first go (even though I won't argue that would be fantastic).

The first meal you cooked wasn’t a gourmet meal. The first time you dribbled a basketball wasn’t Lebron-level. Someone was there to point out what you were doing wrong and set you on the right path. They taught you how to get better.

That’s what criticism is: teaching.

It's not  rejecting your work, which might be why some writers fail to share their work: because their fear of rejection is mistakenly associated with getting critiques.

Yes, sometimes it’s mean-spirited, especially in this age of internet trolls. But even in those nasty reviews, there’s normally something to learn from.

Find it. Use it. And do better next time.

4. Stop revising.

You want every sentence in your work to be perfect . I have a secret for you: you’ll never get there.

Your writing will never be perfect. 

Not to you, not to your editors, and not to your readers. It’s impossible, so stop revising ad nauseam. At some point, you have to let it go and put the work out there.

Perfectionism can stunt your creative writing instead of empower it.

To avoid this, set a limit. I prefer three drafts. That’s it. Three and then I let it fly on its own.

What are you writing for? We'll never know unless you decide to share your work.

5. Set goals and move toward them.

Focus on milestones like daily word counts and deadlines (self-imposed or otherwise).

Writing a book is like summiting a mountain: you do it  one step at a time . When you reach the top you might be a little exhausted and out of breath, but you’ll look back at all you’ve accomplished and feel proud.

Without these smaller milestones, it might be hard to finish your piece of writing, or even find the motivation to keep writing each day.

Stories are finished one day at a time, with hard work and a desire to grow your writing process.

Don't sweat the small stuff in your first drafts, like word choice. Instead, set a long term goal of continually learning how to write better and smaller milestones that will help you finish stories you start.

All of this is accomplished word by word, and by turning real and irrational fears into manageable tasks.

6. Embrace the fear of writing.

You’re going to be scared frequently in this business. My stomach still flips every time I submit a short story , even though I’ve submitted hundreds of times. It’s going to happen.

The trick is to acknowledge it and move forward. It didn’t kill you.

In fact, that little tingle of fear should be your signal to celebrate. You did what scared you and that’s amazing.

One book that a lot of writers really love on this subject is The War of Art  by Steven Pressfield. If you're feeling discouraged or swallowed by your fear, check out this book for some motivation.

Even better, find and join a writing group like we have here at The Write Practice. Nothing helps you overcome your fears like a supportive community with a kindred creative spirit.

7. If your character can do it, so can you.

You don’t let your characters sit back on their heels because they’re scared, do you? I hope not, because if you do, you don’t have a story .

Your characters don’t have the luxury of sitting on the bench. They must make decisions and do something about the problem. And so should you.

Don’t let fear of writing take over your writing life. Decide to move forward, to write that book, to send out that manuscript. Decide and then do it.

8. Ask for help if you need it.

Don’t be afraid to ask for time to yourself so that you can write. Your family and friends will understand you need that time because writing is important to you.

Find a group of writers and readers that can go through your story and give constructive feedback. You can't improve in a vacuum.

Need to know what a day in the life of a flight attendant looks like, or the lingo of a truck driver? Ask them. Trust me, you’re not bothering them. People love talking about themselves.

In the same vein, if you need help with research, that’s literally what librarians are for. They’ll be glad to help.

Don’t let fear of asking for help stagnate your writing.

Embrace the Fear

I want to leave you with these words from Carrie Fisher:

Your fears are natural and normal. They're also not the end of the story.

Your task, the challenge for every writer, is to face that fear of writing, acknowledge it, and write, share, publish anyway .

Need extra motivation? Have you checked out The Write Practice’s 100 Day Book program ? It’s the best way to stop letting fear of writing control you and get that book done. Click here to find more information on the course.

What scares you most about writing and/or the business side of writing? What are some steps you can take to overcome that fear?  Let me know in the comments !

Today I want you to spend fifteen minutes writing about a time you were scared to do something but did it anyway. Describe the exact feelings of fear you had. How did you feel after you'd done what scared you?

When you’re finished, share your work in the Pro Practice Workshop here (and if you’re not a member yet, you can join here ).

Join 100 Day Book

Enrollment closes May 14 at midnight!

Sarah Gribble

Sarah Gribble is the author of dozens of short stories that explore uncomfortable situations, basic fears, and the general awe and fascination of the unknown. She just released Surviving Death , her first novel, and is currently working on her next book.

Follow her on Instagram or join her email list for free scares.

Work with Sarah Gribble?

Bestselling author with over five years of coaching experience. Sarah Gribble specializes in working with Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror, Speculative Fiction, and Thriller books. Sound like a good fit for you?

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How to Write the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay + Examples

What’s covered:.

• What is the Overcoming Challenges Essay?
• Real Overcoming Challenges Essay Prompts
• How to Choose a Topic
• Writing Tips

Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

• Where to Get Your Essay Edited

While any college essay can be intimidating, the Overcoming Challenges prompt often worries students the most. Those students who’ve been lucky enough not to experience trauma tend to assume they have nothing worth saying. On the other hand, students who’ve overcome larger obstacles may be hesitant to talk about them.

Regardless of your particular circumstances, there are steps you can take to make the essay writing process simpler. Here are our top tips for writing the overcoming challenges essay successfully.

What is the “Overcoming Challenges” Essay?

The overcoming challenges prompt shows up frequently in both main application essays (like the Common App) and supplemental essays. Because supplemental essays allow students to provide schools with additional information, applicants should be sure that the subject matter they choose to write about differs from what’s in their main essay.

Students often assume the overcoming challenges essay requires them to detail past traumas. While you can certainly write about an experience that’s had a profound effect on your life, it’s important to remember that colleges aren’t evaluating students based on the seriousness of the obstacle they overcame.

On the contrary, the goal of this essay is to show admissions officers that you have the intelligence and fortitude to handle any challenges that come your way. After all, college serves as an introduction to adult life, and schools want to know that the students they admit are up to the task. 

Real “Overcoming Challenges” Essay Prompts

To help you understand what the “Overcoming Challenges” essay looks like, here are a couple sample prompts.

Currently, the Common Application asks students to answer the following prompt in 650 words or less:

“The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

For the past several years, MIT has prompted students to write 200 to 250 words on the following:

“Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?”

In both cases, the prompts explicitly ask for your response to the challenge. The event itself isn’t as important as how it pushed you to grow.

How to Choose a Topic for an Essay on Overcoming Challenges

When it comes to finding the best topic for your overcoming challenges essays, there’s no right answer. The word “challenge” is ambiguous and could be used to reference a wide range of situations from prevailing over a bully to getting over your lifelong stage fright to appear in a school musical. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when selecting an essay subject.

1. Avoid trivial or common topics

While there aren’t many hard-and-fast rules for choosing an essay topic, students should avoid overdone topics.

These include:

• Working hard in a challenging class
• Overcoming a sports injury
• Moving schools or immigrating to the US
• Tragedy (divorce, death, abuse)

Admissions officers have read numerous essays on the subject, so it’s harder for you to stand out (see our full list of cliché college essay topics to avoid ). If events like these were truly formative to you, you can still choose to write about them, but you’ll need to be as personal as possible. 

It’s also ideal if you have a less traditional storyline for a cliché topic; for example, if your sports injury led you to discover a new passion, that would be a more unique story than detailing how you overcame your injury and got back in the game.

Similarly, students may not want to write about an obstacle that admissions committees could perceive as low stakes, such as getting a B on a test, or getting into a small fight with a friend. The goal of this essay is to illustrate how you respond to adversity, so the topic you pick should’ve been at least impactful on your personal growth.

2. Pick challenges that demonstrate qualities you want to highlight

Students often mistakenly assume they need to have experienced exceptional circumstances like poverty, an abusive parent, or cancer to write a good essay. The truth is that the best topics will allow you to highlight specific personal qualities and share more about who you are. The essay should be less about the challenge itself, and more about how you responded to it.

Ask yourself what personality traits you want to emphasize, and see what’s missing in your application. Maybe you want to highlight your adaptability, for example, but that isn’t clearly expressed in your application. In this case, you might write about a challenge that put your adaptability to the test, or shaped you to become more adaptable.

Here are some examples of good topics we’ve seen over the years:

• Not having a coach for a sports team and becoming one yourself
• Helping a parent through a serious health issue
• Trying to get the school track dedicated to a coach
• Having to switch your Model UN position last-minute

Tips for Writing an Essay About Overcoming Challenges

Once you’ve selected a topic for your essays, it’s time to sit down and write. For best results, make sure your essay focuses on your efforts to tackle an obstacle rather than the problem itself. Additionally, you could avoid essay writing pitfalls by doing the following:

1. Choose an original essay structure

If you want your overcoming challenges essay to attract attention, aim to break away from more traditional structures. Most of these essays start by describing an unsuccessful attempt at a goal and then explain the steps the writer took to master the challenge. 

You can stand out by choosing a challenge you’re still working on overcoming, or focus on a mental or emotional challenge that spans multiple activities or events. For example, you might discuss your fear of public speaking and how that impacted your ability to coach your brother’s Little League team and run for Student Council. 

You can also choose a challenge that can be narrated in the moment, such as being put on the spot to teach a yoga class. These challenges can make particularly engaging essays, as you get to experience the writer’s thoughts and emotions as they unfold.

Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to have succeeded in your goal for this essay. Maybe you ran for an election and lost, or maybe you proposed a measure to the school board that wasn’t passed. It’s still possible to write a strong essay about topics like these as long as you focus on your personal growth. In fact, these may make for even stronger essays since they are more unconventional topics.

2. Focus on the internal

When writing about past experiences, you may be tempted to spend too much time describing specific people and events. With an Overcoming Challenges essay though, the goal is to focus on your thoughts and feelings.

For example, rather than detail all the steps you took to become a better public speaker, use the majority of your essay to describe your mental state as you embarked on the journey to achieving your goals. Were you excited, scared, anxious, or hopeful? Don’t be afraid to let the reader in on your innermost emotions and thoughts during this process.

3. Share what you learned 

An Overcoming Challenges essay should leave the reader with a clear understanding of what you learned on your journey, be it physical, mental, or emotional. There’s no need to explicitly say “this experience taught me X,” but your essay should at least implicitly share any lessons you learned. This can be done through your actions and in-the-moment reflections. Remember that the goal is to show admissions committees why your experiences make you a great candidate for admission. 

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the g arb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This essay is an excellent example because the writer turns an everyday challenge—starting a fire—into an exploration of her identity. The writer was once “a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes,” but has since traded her love of the outdoors for a love of music, writing, and reading. 

The story begins in media res , or in the middle of the action, allowing readers to feel as if we’re there with the writer. One of the essay’s biggest strengths is its use of imagery. We can easily visualize the writer’s childhood and the present day. For instance, she states that she “rubbed and rubbed [the twigs] until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers.”

The writing has an extremely literary quality, particularly with its wordplay. The writer reappropriates words and meanings, and even appeals to the senses: “My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame.” She later uses a parallelism to cleverly juxtapose her changed interests: “instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano.”

One of the essay’s main areas of improvement is its overemphasis on the “story” and lack of emphasis on the reflection. The second to last paragraph about changing perspective is crucial to the essay, as it ties the anecdote to larger lessons in the writer’s life. She states that she hasn’t changed, but has only shifted perspective. Yet, we don’t get a good sense of where this realization comes from and how it impacts her life going forward. 

The end of the essay offers a satisfying return to the fire imagery, and highlights the writer’s passion—the one thing that has remained constant in her life.

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

While the writer didn’t succeed in getting the track dedicated to Coach Stark, their essay is certainly successful in showing their willingness to push themselves and take initiative.

The essay opens with a quote from Coach Stark that later comes full circle at the end of the essay. We learn about Stark’s impact and the motivation for trying to get the track dedicated to him.

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The essay goes on to explain how the writer overcame their apprehension of public speaking, and likens the process of submitting an appeal to the school board to running a race. This metaphor makes the writing more engaging and allows us to feel the student’s emotions.

While the student didn’t ultimately succeed in getting the track dedicated, we learn about their resilience and initiative: I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Overall, this essay is well-done. It demonstrates growth despite failing to meet a goal, which is a unique essay structure. The running metaphor and full-circle intro/ending also elevate the writing in this essay.

Where to Get Your Overcoming Challenges Essay Edited

The Overcoming Challenges essay is one of the trickier supplemental prompts, so it’s important to get feedback on your drafts. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

When You Write

9 Effective Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Writing

There are several forms of fear that can affect writers. For instance, some people suffer from a fear of failure or criticism, while others experience the more common phobia of public speaking.

However, one type of fear that is often overlooked is an overwhelming sense of terror at just the thought of writing itself. If you find yourself struggling with this problem and dread sitting down to write for any reason whatsoever, there are ways to overcome it so that your life as a writer becomes far easier than before.

Perhaps you have found yourself in front of a blank page wondering what words should come next…

Maybe you’ve sat down to write but all those ideas in your mind seem to be gone now? Whatever your reasons.

How do you overcome this fear of writing? Read on to find out.

Types of Fears of Writing

The extreme type of fears of writing are called Graphophobia and Scriptophobia. But in less extreme cases, there are several fears that writers have that are connected to their fear of people’s judgment, rejection, and lack of belief in their skill or talent.

Before I get to Graphophobia and Scriptophobia, let me mention some of these.

1. “My writing is good enough already” Fear

These types of writers are afraid that publishing their work might make them look stupid or arrogant. They do not want to write for the public, but only for themselves… which is normally a bad idea since if you don’t have anyone to read your work—it won’t improve.

2. Fear of rejection

Some writers fear editors will reject their stories and novels and deny them the opportunity of being published in magazines and books. This fear comes because writers worry that mistakes with formatting, punctuation or spelling, etcetera will lead to their work being rejected.

When writers are afraid that their work will be rejected, they get anxious about their reputation. They fear what people may say behind their back if the writer’s story is not good enough for them to read or it’s too dark, deep, unhappy, et cetera.

3. “Others will not like my writing” Fear

These types of writers fear rejection because they think that other people will be harsh on them… and this makes them not want to publish their work or share it with anyone.

This type of writer fears wasted time and is afraid that publishing his work is going to be a waste of time since—in his opinion—it is not good enough and might never be.

4. Fear of the blank page

One recurring problem in a writer’s life is writer’s block. This is when your mind freezes and cannot give you something worth writing at all.

You cannot write anything, not even a single sentence or word. Sometimes, you just give up and are afraid to go back to a blank page. If it goes on for a long time, you might lose your interest entirely.

Graphophobia and Scriptophobia

Graphophobia is the irrational fear of writing—especially handwriting. Scriptophobia is the extreme fear of writing in public.

People suffering from these conditions are known to avoid writing as the mere thought of writing brings anxiety.  People with graphophobia may experience symptoms similar to other common phobias or social anxiety disorders when they are confronted by writing, and—sometimes—the anxiety is so intense that it develops into a full-blown panic attack as a result of it.

Some common symptoms include a faster heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating and trembling, nausea/upset stomach, dry mouth and difficulty speaking clearly, dizziness, fainting, and feeling light-headedness.

Someone suffering from extreme cases of graphophobia may take avoidance of writing to the extreme by ensuring that they are not exposed to any form of writing. For example, some may avoid going places where there is a lot of writing , such as offices or schools, where it is likely to be seen often.

In some cases, graphophobia can become so severe that a person suffering from it can feel like they can’t get away from writing no matter what he or she does because there is too much writing around them. Hence they may feel trapped when they are in writing-filled environments because they can’t escape writing’s presence.

Causes of Graphophobia and Scriptophobia

There are many causes of Graphophobia or Scriptophobia, but it cannot be medically determined what specific root is responsible for a particular case.

Two of the main causes are genetics and the person’s environment. For instance, a history of mental illness and phobias in the family may increase the chances of developing these conditions.

In some cases, graphophobia is a result of a traumatic experience and for people with genetic predisposition issues, it may only require a minor experience of traumatic event to develop full-blown graphophobia.

We can’t say for sure the definitive causes of graphophobia, but we can say that both genetics and environmental factors are factors in the development of all mental disorders. Therefore, they are the biggest suspects when someone develops graphophobia.

Graphophobia and Scriptophobia Treatments

Because there are no definitive causes of these conditions, there are specific treatments for them.

Be that as it may, there are several forms of treatment that reduce the symptoms of graphophobia. Some of these treatments are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and psychiatric medications.

Does Fear of Writing Exist?

Yes, it does, and it exists in many forms. Naturally, some people might find it difficult to put their thoughts into words because of a lack of self-confidence or a feeling that one’s work isn’t good enough.

But—as you’ll learn later in the article—for others, this fear might be severe and is caused by complicated factors (i.e., Graphophobia and Scriptophobia). That’s why I have written the “types of fears” section to shed more light on the fear of writing.

How to Overcome Your Fear of Writing

1. face and understand your fear.

Think about it, fear is something that hides within you, lurking deep down in your body or mind. Fear doesn’t come in any physical form—it’s neither a person nor an animal. This means that it’s only manifested in our minds and bodies.

Therefore, if you want to overcome your fear of writing, then you must face this fear and deal with the manifestation, the fear lurking underneath the surface, and work to rid your system of this fear of writing.

“You cannot conquer that which you don’t know.” I don’t know who said that, but someone must have said it.

But, to understand how fear works, we have to look into psychology. In general, understanding fear has been one of the psychologists’ goals for years, and they have labored to find out why people are afraid and how they can overcome those fears.

If you discover that your fear of writing originates from simple roots such as lack of self-belief or fear of rejection, then simple solutions such as therapy or boosting your self-esteem can help you overcome it.

But, if the fear of writing has severe causes like Scriptophobia, then therapy is an effective solution.

Just like other forms of phobia, therapy may be advantageous for treating someone with Scriptophobia or graphophobia.

The kind of therapies that work for other phobias also work phobias associated with writing. For instance, exposure therapy is an effective form of treatment for people suffering from Scriptophobia. In this type of therapy, the therapist slowly exposes the patient to their phobia over a certain amount of time.

The underlying concept is that if they frequently expose the patient to that which they fear, the impact of the phobia will lessen over time.

Some may resort to anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication, but without using the doctor’s recommendation or any form of therapy may not be very effective in the long run.

3. Look to Writers You Admire for Inspiration

Sometimes, you’re afraid to write because you’re intimidated by famous writers and are afraid that you’ll never measure up, that is utterly unnecessary.

Instead of envying them or being intimidated by their success, use their stories to inspire yourself. You have to take some time to research them and read their works.

There are a lot of platforms that you can use to learn about writing greats like Hemmingway, Shakespeare, or Dr. Seuss . 

If you fear writing because you’re intimidated by successful writers who publish multiple books each year, don’t compare yourself to them! The more successful they become, the more stressed you’ll be if you’re trying to compete with them.

4. Take Breaks When Writing Gets Hard

It can be extremely frustrating to spend hours working on a new article or book chapter only to find yourself stuck and not knowing how to fix your problem.

To combat this fear and frustration, take regular breaks and stops and give yourself time to think over what you’ve written so far. Come back later with fresh eyes and renewed focus.

5. Stay Away from Social Media for a While

Social media is known as a breeding ground for fear. We see all these beautiful people with perfect lives and no fear, so we fear that we will never be as good as them.

If you fear writing because of your fear of being perceived as inadequate by those around you, stay away from social media for the duration of your project!

6. Never Give Up on Your Story

Almost everyone feels some type of fear when they begin to write their first book or articles for publication.

Either that or you’re too excited!

You can’t let this fear stop you from writing your story, you can’t let it win! The only way to overcome writing fears is to keep going even when it gets hard.

Keep telling yourself that no one will publish your work if it’s not good enough, so give everything you have before giving up completely.

7. Learn to Ignore Your Doubts

No matter how hard you try, you will always have doubts about your ability to succeed as a writer.

Instead of fighting these fears by trying to silence them, learn to ignore them altogether. You can be confident in your ability without knowing that you’ll never fail, but if fear ever comes knocking on the door again, tell it that it’s no longer welcome.

8. Remind Yourself That Everyone a Voice

You may think that you’re the only one who has the fear of writing, but that fear is universal. Billions of people struggle with fear daily and worry that they don’t have what it takes to get their words down on paper.

Even if you fear writing more than most, remember this: so do all the other writers in the world!

So, how do they do it? They know that they can’t write like everyone else, that the uniqueness of their voice is what made them successful. If you recognize this fact, you can overcome more than half of your writing fears.

9. Brainstorm Before Writing

The fear of writing can be attributed to many things. However, the one thing that is clear across all types of writers is how difficult it can be for them to get started with their work.

When you are struggling with finding inspiration or motivation to write , think about what may have caused this feeling, and then try using some techniques like brainstorming ideas ahead of time so you don’t feel overwhelmed when starting your next post.

Writing isn’t easy but taking steps in advance to reduce stress before sitting down at the keyboard should help alleviate any anxiety associated with “writer’s block.”

One difference between successful writers and those who are not can be summed up in one word: fear. 

Those who fear success don’t believe that they deserve to succeed. They fear failure and fear success, so they fear writing. But fear does not create a successful writer. Creating a successful career in writing is a process of overcoming fear.

Remember: most great ideas don’t come from inspiration alone, but perspiration. Be willing to put in the hours and effort, and fear will lose all power over you.

Recommended Reading...

How to get over writers block: 30 ways to unleashing your creative potential, strengths and weaknesses in writing.

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Turning Fear into Confidence—A Personal Essay

October 14, 2020

Facing obstacles throughout your life is inevitable, and the obstacles you overcome can define who you are as a person. Not only will this build character and self-confidence, it will show others how strong you remained and inspire them to overcome their own challenges.

But overcoming obstacles is no simple task. Most obstacles are incredibly hard and testing. Yet, by overcoming them, you will come to understand why they are important. The significance of overcoming obstacles in life is to make you more grounded, courageous, and wise. For me, one of these life-altering obstacles emerged during my undergraduate years.

I had a serious fear of public speaking. There were times where I would struggle with presentations and in-class discussions. When these sessions would take place, my fear built up in a pressure cooker of discouragement and convulsive anguish. I felt humiliated before my teachers, partners, and most of all, my close friends. I soon realized, however, that the same people who seemed to be the source of my fear became my lifeline, their inspirational words filling my mind and heart with positive thoughts.

Seeing my struggles, my peers tried to build me up, to increase my confidence in myself and convince me that anything, including overcoming my fear of public speaking, could be accomplished with enough enthusiasm and belief in oneself.

The obstacles we face in life can distort how we see ourselves and cripple our ability to face our fears. By facing these conflicts head on, though, we can completely flip their effect on us, transforming them into experiences that strengthen our resilience and push the boundaries of what we think is possible to achieve.

Taking everything into account everything I’ve learned from this experience and many others like it that I’ve encountered in my life, it’s clear that obstacles are impossible to avoid, and when you do encounter them, you must view them as learning opportunities. You might just surprise yourself at how easily you overcome them.

This post was written by Duke TIP’s outgoing Marketing & Communications intern, Christina Gordon. Christina graduated from North Carolina Central University in the spring of 2020.

About Duke TIP

The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a nonprofit organization that has served over three million academically talented students in grades 4–12 since it was founded in 1980. Collaborating with educators and parents, TIP helps gifted students assess the extent of their academic abilities with above-grade-level testing, recognizes them for their achievements, and provides them with a variety of enrichment benefits as well as accelerated face-to-face and online educational programs.

• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Overcome Fear of Writing

Last Updated: April 21, 2022 References

This article was co-authored by Melessa Sargent and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden . Melessa Sargent is the President of Scriptwriters Network, a non-profit organization that brings in entertainment professionals to teach the art and business of script writing for TV, features and new media. The Network serves its members by providing educational programming, developing access and opportunity through alliances with industry professionals, and furthering the cause and quality of writing in the entertainment industry. Under Melessa's leadership, SWN has won numbers awards including the Los Angeles Award from 2014 through 2021, and the Innovation & Excellence award in 2020. This article has been viewed 2,911 times.

Whether you’re writing an essay, a cover letter, a novel, or anything in between, having a fear of writing can make it hard to start. Overcoming this fear may take some time, but it can be done! By calming your anxiety and building your self-esteem, you can get confident in your writing abilities and reduce your unease about writing.

Building Confidence

• Remind yourself that you can create great work.

• Explaining things well (great for scientific papers).
• Having strong opinions (good for persuasive essays).
• Valuing your own skills (great for cover letters and resumés).
• Making connections while reading (good for novels and summaries).

• This is especially helpful for formats like essays, scientific papers, or summaries.
• Resumés and cover letters have specific formats to follow that you can find on Google.
• If you’re writing for a class, your teacher may be able to show you examples of what they’re looking for.

• If you don’t feel comfortable meeting in person, look for online writing groups instead.
• Check out your local community center or community college for groups like this. [5] X Research source

• If you’re in college, you can also visit your school’s writing center to meet with a tutor.
• If you aren’t writing in an academic session, your friends or family members can help you out a lot.
• If you’re working on a novel, try hiring an editor to give you feedback.

• You don’t have to incorporate every revision you get if you don’t want to, but it can be helpful to get feedback from someone with fresh eyes.

Starting to Write

• Research paper: Brainstorm ideas for a topic, do preliminary research on the web, write the introduction paragraph, create an outline for body paragraphs.
• Resumé/cover letter: Look up job positions, pick out keywords to include, create sections and categories.
• Novel: Write out general timeline of events, come up with backgrounds for each main character, pick a location for the story to take place.

• Write a rough first draft by May 2nd.
• Get feedback on the rough draft by May 5th.
• Edit and create a polished second draft by May 12th.
• Meet with the writing center to edit the second draft by May 15th.
• Revise and turn in the final draft on May 23rd.

• Starting with the body of your paper can actually make writing much easier, since you can use an intro and a conclusion to summarize the rest of your writing.
• Or, if you’re writing a cover letter, you might want to start with your closing paragraph first.
• When you’re writing a novel, working on the climax scene might help you get the ball rolling.

• Try not to edit as you go—this will only slow you down. Instead, have dedicated writing times and dedicated editing times.
• It may help to keep your goal in mind as you work. When you think about the big picture, it can help lessen any fear or anxiety you have about writing.

Expert Q&A

• Try not to expect perfection from yourself. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done. [12] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Pick a relaxing area without distractions to write in, like the library or your room. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/confidence.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/writing-anxiety/
• ↑ Melessa Sargent. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 14 August 2019.
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/career-transitions/201007/writing-anxiety-and-the-job-search
• ↑ https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/chapter/overcoming-writing-anxiety-and-writers-block/
• ↑ https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/writing-papers-makes-me-anxious

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Fear: Definition, Effects, and Overcoming Essay

Effects of fear, how to overcome fear.

Webster’s dictionary defines fear as “an unpleasant, sometimes strong emotion caused by an anticipation or awareness of danger” or “anxious concern” Fear is a feeling that causes agitation and anxiety mostly caused by presence or imminence of danger. It is a state or condition marked by feeling of agitation or anxiety. It can also be described as a feeling of disquiet. Fear is an abstract concept and may have different meanings. Holder (2007) adds that fear is more pervasive when there is lack of faith that we have greater significance in the universe than what we own or how others perceive us.

Fear is manifested in many ways in human beings. It may manifest as showing signs of withdrawing or by cowering. But the most profound manifestation of fear is anger and hatred. People acts out their insecurity as anger which shows that they are the most fearful people.

Effects of fear have been documented in many studies. Fear has been documented to case mind paralyses, heart attacks and closure of fallopian tube due to fear of pain during child birth (Jim Rohn, 2004), describes fear, indifference, indecision, doubt, worry and timidness as the five greatest enemies within us which can destroy our lives completely. Fear may manifest itself in physical short term effects or affect your whole life. It will affect both he physiology of the body and the brain. Fear generates stress which manifests itself physically in many signs physically and emotionally. It causes judgmental errors and affects our reasoning that most of time when we are in a fearful situation; we tend to take the wrong action.

According to Sidney B., (1988), fear is a great paralyzer. It will keep you from making positive changes in your life and thus retard your recovery from depression. He continues to argue that fear persuades you to set easier goals and do less than your capability. It will also cause internal defense system fooling you that you have good reasons not to change. Fear of failure reduces the available alternatives you can pursue because you cannot stand by the outcome of what you do. You always feel that you cannot succeed in anything you try. It will keep you away from seeking help because you don’t want others to see you as a failure. Fear has been identified by psychologist as what causes people to give up when they are one step short to their goal. It will keep you stuck or make you develop unhealthy habits and behavior problems. Most of all fear keeps many people from taking risks.

Rim Rohn, (2004), argues that we are not born with courage, neither are we born with fear. He argues that some of our fears are brought on by our own experiences by what someone has told us or what we read in papers and books. Sri Swami Sivananda, (2007), describes fear as an illusion that cannot live. He suggests that to overcome fear we should always feel the presence of a Supreme Being watching us, by meditating and developing positive thoughts all the time. We should devote ourselves to eradicating fear. Since we have seen that fear is developed within our minds, it can also be eradicated within our mind and hence it is just a matter of reconditioning our minds that will help us overcome fear. It is also suggesting that we should share with others our fears. In this way they will help us find solutions to the cause of fears. President Roosevelt said, “We have nothing to fear but the fear itself” hence fearing fear starts and ends with us.

Holder P. (2007): FEAR… YOUR WORST ENEMY . Web.

Rohn, J., (2004). Build courage to face the enemies within. Web.

Sidney S., (1998). Getting Unstuck: Breaking through Your Barriers to Change . Web.

Sri Sivanand, S. (2007). The Divine Life Society: How to overcome fear. Web.

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Writing Anxiety

What this handout is about.

This handout discusses the situational nature of writer’s block and other writing anxiety and suggests things you can try to feel more confident and optimistic about yourself as a writer.

What are writing anxiety and writer’s block?

“Writing anxiety” and “writer’s block” are informal terms for a wide variety of apprehensive and pessimistic feelings about writing. These feelings may not be pervasive in a person’s writing life. For example, you might feel perfectly fine writing a biology lab report but apprehensive about writing a paper on a novel. You may confidently tackle a paper about the sociology of gender but delete and start over twenty times when composing an email to a cute classmate to suggest a coffee date. In other words, writing anxiety and writers’ block are situational (Hjortshoj 7). These terms do NOT describe psychological attributes. People aren’t born anxious writers; rather, they become anxious or blocked through negative or difficult experiences with writing.

When do these negative feelings arise?

Although there is a great deal of variation among individuals, there are also some common experiences that writers in general find stressful.

For example, you may struggle when you are:

• adjusting to a new form of writing—for example, first year college writing, papers in a new field of study, or longer forms than you are used to (a long research paper, a senior thesis, a master’s thesis, a dissertation) (Hjortshoj 56-76).
• writing for a reader or readers who have been overly critical or demanding in the past.
• remembering negative criticism received in the past—even if the reader who criticized your work won’t be reading your writing this time.
• working with limited time or with a lot of unstructured time.
• responding to an assignment that seems unrelated to academic or life goals.
• dealing with troubling events outside of school.

What are some strategies for handling these feelings?

Get support.

Choose a writing buddy, someone you trust to encourage you in your writing life. Your writing buddy might be a friend or family member, a classmate, a teacher, a colleague, or a Writing Center tutor. Talk to your writing buddy about your ideas, your writing process, your worries, and your successes. Share pieces of your writing. Make checking in with your writing buddy a regular part of your schedule. When you share pieces of writing with your buddy, use our handout on asking for feedback .

In his book Understanding Writing Blocks, Keith Hjortshoj describes how isolation can harm writers, particularly students who are working on long projects not connected with coursework (134-135). He suggests that in addition to connecting with supportive individuals, such students can benefit from forming or joining a writing group, which functions in much the same way as a writing buddy. A group can provide readers, deadlines, support, praise, and constructive criticism. For help starting one, see our handout about writing groups .

Identify your strengths

Often, writers who are experiencing block or anxiety have a worse opinion of their own writing than anyone else! Make a list of the things you do well. You might ask a friend or colleague to help you generate such a list. Here are some possibilities to get you started:

• I explain things well to people.
• I get people’s interest.
• I have strong opinions.
• I listen well.
• I am critical of what I read.
• I see connections.

Choose at least one strength as your starting point. Instead of saying “I can’t write,” say “I am a writer who can …”

Recognize that writing is a complex process

Writing is an attempt to fix meaning on the page, but you know, and your readers know, that there is always more to be said on a topic. The best writers can do is to contribute what they know and feel about a topic at a particular point in time.

Writers often seek “flow,” which usually entails some sort of breakthrough followed by a beautifully coherent outpouring of knowledge. Flow is both a possibility—most people experience it at some point in their writing lives—and a myth. Inevitably, if you write over a long period of time and for many different situations, you will encounter obstacles. As Hjortshoj explains, obstacles are particularly common during times of transition—transitions to new writing roles or to new kinds of writing.

Think of yourself as an apprentice.

If block or apprehension is new for you, take time to understand the situations you are writing in. In particular, try to figure out what has changed in your writing life. Here are some possibilities:

• You are writing in a new format.
• You are writing longer papers than before.
• You are writing for new audiences.
• You are writing about new subject matter.
• You are turning in writing from different stages of the writing process—for example, planning stages or early drafts.

It makes sense to have trouble when dealing with a situation for the first time. It’s also likely that when you confront these new situations, you will learn and grow. Writing in new situations can be rewarding. Not every format or audience will be right for you, but you won’t know which ones might be right until you try them. Think of new writing situations as apprenticeships. When you’re doing a new kind of writing, learn as much as you can about it, gain as many skills in that area as you can, and when you finish the apprenticeship, decide which of the skills you learned will serve you well later on. You might be surprised.

Below are some suggestions for how to learn about new kinds of writing:

• Ask a lot of questions of people who are more experienced with this kind of writing. Here are some of the questions you might ask: What’s the purpose of this kind of writing? Who’s the audience? What are the most important elements to include? What’s not as important? How do you get started? How do you know when what you’ve written is good enough? How did you learn to write this way?
• Ask a lot of questions of the person who assigned you a piece of writing. If you have a paper, the best place to start is with the written assignment itself. For help with this, see our handout on understanding assignments .
• Look for examples of this kind of writing. (You can ask your instructor for a recommended example). Look, especially, for variation. There are often many different ways to write within a particular form. Look for ways that feel familiar to you, approaches that you like. You might want to look for published models or, if this seems too intimidating, look at your classmates’ writing. In either case, ask yourself questions about what these writers are doing, and take notes. How does the writer begin and end? In what order does the writer tell things? How and when does the writer convey their main point? How does the writer bring in other people’s ideas? What is the writer’s purpose? How is that purpose achieved?
• Read our handouts about how to write in specific fields or how to handle specific writing assignments.
• Listen critically to your readers. Before you dismiss or wholeheartedly accept what they say, try to understand them. If a reader has given you written comments, ask yourself questions to figure out the reader’s experience of your paper: What is this reader looking for? What am I doing that satisfies this reader? In what ways is this reader still unsatisfied? If you can’t answer these questions from the reader’s comments, then talk to the reader, or ask someone else to help you interpret the comments.
• Most importantly, don’t try to do everything at once. Start with reasonable expectations. You can’t write like an expert your first time out. Nobody does! Use the criticism you get.

Once you understand what readers want, you are in a better position to decide what to do with their criticisms. There are two extreme possibilities—dismissing the criticisms and accepting them all—but there is also a lot of middle ground. Figure out which criticisms are consistent with your own purposes, and do the hard work of engaging with them. Again, don’t expect an overnight turn-around; recognize that changing writing habits is a process and that papers are steps in the process.

Chances are that at some point in your writing life you will encounter readers who seem to dislike, disagree with, or miss the point of your work. Figuring out what to do with criticism from such readers is an important part of a writer’s growth.

Try new tactics when you get stuck

Often, writing blocks occur at particular stages of the writing process. The writing process is cyclical and variable. For different writers, the process may include reading, brainstorming, drafting, getting feedback, revising, and editing. These stages do not always happen in this order, and once a writer has been through a particular stage, chances are they haven’t seen the last of that stage. For example, brainstorming may occur all along the way.

Figure out what your writing process looks like and whether there’s a particular stage where you tend to get stuck. Perhaps you love researching and taking notes on what you read, and you have a hard time moving from that work to getting started on your own first draft. Or once you have a draft, it seems set in stone and even though readers are asking you questions and making suggestions, you don’t know how to go back in and change it. Or just the opposite may be true; you revise and revise and don’t want to let the paper go.

Wherever you have trouble, take a longer look at what you do and what you might try. Sometimes what you do is working for you; it’s just a slow and difficult process. Other times, what you do may not be working; these are the times when you can look around for other approaches to try:

• Talk to your writing buddy and to other colleagues about what they do at the particular stage that gets you stuck.
• Read about possible new approaches in our handouts on brainstorming and revising .
• Try thinking of yourself as an apprentice to a stage of the writing process and give different strategies a shot.
• Cut your paper into pieces and tape them to the wall, use eight different colors of highlighters, draw a picture of your paper, read your paper out loud in the voice of your favorite movie star….

Okay, we’re kind of kidding with some of those last few suggestions, but there is no limit to what you can try (for some fun writing strategies, check out our online animated demos ). When it comes to conquering a block, give yourself permission to fall flat on your face. Trying and failing will you help you arrive at the thing that works for you.

Celebrate your successes

Start storing up positive experiences with writing. Whatever obstacles you’ve faced, celebrate the occasions when you overcome them. This could be something as simple as getting started, sharing your work with someone besides a teacher, revising a paper for the first time, trying out a new brainstorming strategy, or turning in a paper that has been particularly challenging for you. You define what a success is for you. Keep a log or journal of your writing successes and breakthroughs, how you did it, how you felt. This log can serve as a boost later in your writing life when you face new challenges.

Wait a minute, didn’t we already say that? Yes. It’s worth repeating. Most people find relief for various kinds of anxieties by getting support from others. Sometimes the best person to help you through a spell of worry is someone who’s done that for you before—a family member, a friend, a mentor. Maybe you don’t even need to talk with this person about writing; maybe you just need to be reminded to believe in yourself, that you can do it.

If you don’t know anyone on campus yet whom you have this kind of relationship with, reach out to someone who seems like they could be a good listener and supportive. There are a number of professional resources for you on campus, people you can talk through your ideas or your worries with. A great place to start is the UNC Writing Center. If you know you have a problem with writing anxiety, make an appointment well before the paper is due. You can come to the Writing Center with a draft or even before you’ve started writing. You can also approach your instructor with questions about your writing assignment. If you’re an undergraduate, your academic advisor and your residence hall advisor are other possible resources. Counselors at Counseling and Wellness Services are also available to talk with you about anxieties and concerns that extend beyond writing.

Apprehension about writing is a common condition on college campuses. Because writing is the most common means of sharing our knowledge, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we write. This handout has given some suggestions for how to relieve that pressure. Talk with others; realize we’re all learning; take an occasional risk; turn to the people who believe in you. Counter negative experiences by actively creating positive ones.

Even after you have tried all of these strategies and read every Writing Center handout, invariably you will still have negative experiences in your writing life. When you get a paper back with a bad grade on it or when you get a rejection letter from a journal, fend off the negative aspects of that experience. Try not to let them sink in; try not to let your disappointment fester. Instead, jump right back in to some area of the writing process: choose one suggestion the evaluator has made and work on it, or read and discuss the paper with a friend or colleague, or do some writing or revising—on this or any paper—as quickly as possible.

Failures of various kinds are an inevitable part of the writing process. Without them, it would be difficult if not impossible to grow as a writer. Learning often occurs in the wake of a startling event, something that stirs you up, something that makes you wonder. Use your failures to keep moving.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Hjortshoj, Keith. 2001. Understanding Writing Blocks . New York: Oxford University Press.

This is a particularly excellent resource for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Hjortshoj writes about his experiences working with university students experiencing block. He explains the transitional nature of most writing blocks and the importance of finding support from others when working on long projects.

Rose, Mike. 1985. When a Writer Can’t Write: Studies in Writer’s Block and Other Composing-Process Problems . New York: Guilford.

This collection of empirical studies is written primarily for writing teachers, researchers, and tutors. Studies focus on writers of various ages, including young children, high school students, and college students.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, writing a compelling overcoming adversity essay.

I need to write an essay about overcoming adversity for one of my college applications, and I'm still brainstorming ideas for it. What are some tips for writing this type of essay? How do I make a genuine and compelling story? Please share your tips and experiences!

To write a compelling overcoming adversity essay, it's essential to focus on crafting an authentic and engaging narrative. Here are some tips to help you create a genuine and powerful story:

1. Reflect on your personal experiences: Begin by reflecting on moments when you faced significant challenges in your life. These can be personal, family-related, academic, social, or even related to your extracurricular activities. The key is to choose an event or situation that has had a profound impact on you and has shaped your personal growth.

2. Be specific and descriptive: Share detailed information about the adversity or obstacle you faced, explaining what made it particularly challenging for you. Provide context by describing the circumstances and any relevant factors that contributed to the adversity.

3. Emphasize your journey: Focus on how you dealt with the adversity, including the steps you took to overcome it, the resources you used, and the support you received from others. Write in-depth about your growth and the lessons you learned during this process.

4. Show, don't tell: Use vivid descriptions and specific examples to illustrate your story. Instead of saying you learned resilience, demonstrate it through your actions and experiences. This will make your essay more engaging and memorable.

5. Be introspective: Take the opportunity to analyze your thoughts and emotions during your journey and how they have evolved since then. This self-reflection will demonstrate your personal growth, self-awareness, and maturity.

6. Avoid clichés and platitudes: Stay away from overused phrases or ideas that could make your essay predictable or generic. Be authentic and true to your own voice, presenting a unique perspective on your experience.

7. Focus on a positive takeaway: Highlight the positive outcomes that resulted from overcoming adversity. These can include personal development, new skills, or a renewed sense of purpose. Admissions officers appreciate students who have turned challenging situations into opportunities for growth.

8. Revise and edit: Once you have written a draft of your essay, take some time to read through and refine it. Work on clarity, flow, and the overall structure of your story. Eliminate any unnecessary or redundant information and ensure your essay holds the reader's attention throughout.

Also, check out CollegeVine's guide to writing the 'Overcoming Challenges' essay: https://blog.collegevine.com/overcoming-challenges-essay

By following these tips and allowing yourself the time to write thoughtfully and authentically, you will craft a compelling overcoming adversity essay that showcases your resilience, determination, and personal growth. Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

The 7 Skills Necessary to Overcome Fear

Fear is the ultimate form of emotional baggage..

Posted January 10, 2021 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina

• What Is Fear?
• Find counselling to combat fear and anxiety

Emotional baggage comes in many forms and can affect many areas of your life. It can creep into relationships, career , parenting , achievement and even the way that you manage your health.

The ultimate whammy that emotional baggage brings to the table is fear . Huge, in your way of getting anything done kind of fear. Because what baggage does is tell you that you are not capable. You are no good. You are too fat. You are unlovable. You are damaged somehow. You are not smart enough, others are better than you.

These messages all bring about the bottom line of keeping you afraid of trying things or putting yourself out there. This is because you believe the messages are correct and that you will fall flat on your face in some way. That failure will make you a laughingstock and people will say “I told you so”.

Sometimes fear can be healthy and keeps you safe. Staying in safe city zones or in lighted areas is a form of a healthy preventative fear. Remaining stuck in a bad relationship, bad job or some other unhealthy situation is an example of bad fear.

Maybe you aren’t in a bad situation but you would like to change your situation and something is holding you back. That something is usually fear. That fear comes from someplace inside you that is screaming don’t be stupid, you can’t do that!!

But you have no proof that you can’t do it. You are only hearing your fear talking and that fear is coming from some old, outdated and incorrect message stored in the archives of your brain.

Let this be the year you clean out all those old messages. Test them out to see which ones hold water. I bet not many. The fear can be so great you are afraid to eliminate it, believing that it serves you in some way. Just like any other kind of clutter, we think we may need it someday. Maybe you think it is keeping you safe. But what it is really doing is keeping you limited.

So, what to do with these old fears and messages?

Bring them out in the open. Invite them in for a little chat. What is your biggest challenge right now in life? Associate whatever fear and negative messaging comes with it. You don’t need to look at them all at once, when you start breaking them down you will see that some will go away naturally. The worst thing you can do is ignore them. If it feels like too much just sit with the thoughts for a bit without demanding change. Get comfortable with them so you can spend some time.

Everyone has fear. It is how you deal with it that matters. Allowing it to limit you is a life suck. Seeing it as a challenge that needs to be overcome and making a plan for it empowers you and puts you in control of your life.

It is not enough to say, "I am afraid of that". You have to look at why you are afraid and what it would take to not be afraid. You can break it into baby steps that match your comfort level of change.

The biggest step is to see fear as baggage and not as a rightful appendage. Those negative and fearful ideas came from somewhere, it is your job to determine where so that you can go about eliminating them.

Eliminating Fear Involves Learning These 7 Skills:

• Learn to trust yourself- trust that you will make good decisions, research and learn what you need and if you make a mistake you can correct it.
• Take ownership of your life -Taking purposeful action rather than reacting to events.
• Identify the components of your fear. (Rejection, failure, so on).
• Neutralize the above components. Know and trust that If one of those things happen you can deal with it or you can find help with it. Don't suffer it before it has happened.
• Build your self-esteem . Learn to like yourself. You forgive mistakes by others, why not yourself?
• Know that you can learn whatever you need to succeed at what you are afraid of- whether they are practical skills or emotional skills, you can master them if necessary.
• Believe at your very core that this can be done. This is not just for other people. This is for you. You are just as good as the next person.

Anything that you want or are thinking of doing can be done with some thought and planning.

You can still write your life blueprint knowing that you have some baggage to overcome and skills to learn. Some baggage will be in the form of fear and you can recognize it in order to work with it. Your blueprint will be a lot more fun and hopeful when you dare to dream big.

Dr. Audrey Sherman is a psychologist, author, and coach whose expertise is in helping people overcome dysfunctional patterns and emotional baggage in order to create a life of their own design.

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How to Overcome Essay Fear

Fear is common in every human being but what differs is what gives you the jitters. In students, assignments and exams can be a real fear which may lead to poor grades despite being a bright student.

However, there’re various ways one can overcome their fears and this article will go through some of them.

1. Believe in Yourself

No one will believe in you and your abilities if you don’t believe in yourself. This may sound cliché but it’s a longstanding truth. Therefore, it’s important to identify ways you can instill confidence in yourself and overcome the fear.

Remember, you are in charge of emotions and you choose what type of emotions that can take over you. Replace the habits that lead to fear with those that bring about satisfaction.

2. Find the Root Cause

In most cases, the cause of fear may be deep-rooted. In others, the cause may be clear. Regardless, you want to identify the cause of the fear if you fancy any chance of overcoming it. You cannot solve a problem if you don’t understand it.

Sit down and think through previous but similar situations where you felt the same fear. What led you to fear the essay? Was it a poor grade you got from a previous essay? Or you think you aren’t up to the task?

3. Try Relaxing Yourself

There could be other underlying factors that lead you to fear writing an essay or to complete your essay . For this reason, you may want to take the time to relax.

This you can do by taking a break from your normal routine and go to a quiet and secluded space to think through the cause of fear and how you can manage the situation.

Sometimes, fears are indications you need to take time out to relax. After the break, you’ll be surprised to see just how much you’ll be able to focus on the task at hand.

4. Go for it

Yes, go for it. Tackle that assignment or essay even if you feel intimidated by it. Fear manifests in people after going against the body’s wishes.

You see, the body is used to a certain routine and when this routine is broken, the body enters defense mode. In this case, fear is one of the ways the body will use to protect itself. Besides, if it’s still overwhelming, you can consider Online Assignment help .

5. Accept the Fear and Live with it

Sometimes, it’s better to accept the situation and live with it. By accepting your fears, you can plan ahead because you know exactly what to expect. Imagine the entire situation and start laying out a blueprint on how to tackle it in the event it manifests.

In conclusion, overcoming fears is an uphill task. However, you must understand that you are in charge of your destiny and shouldn’t allow your fears to control your life. In fact, there’s nothing that should make you think you aren’t up to any task.

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Overcoming the Feeling and Fear of Writing Essays

Overcoming the feeling and fear of writing essays

When you have an essay to write, do you feel excited about it, or do you get depressed and spend a lot of time worrying about it? This could be anxiety, and you must overcome the fear of writing an essay.

Many students get this fear because they have little or no positive writing experience. I, too, had negative feelings about it until I realized that writing is an essential skill.

Most students consider writing an essay hard, challenging, and complicated. It is essential to realize that writing is a way to inform, explain, and educate.

Some hire essay writing services like ours to save the burden, but a few decide to do the homework themselves. This guide is for those who seek to beat the fear and do the work.

What is the Fear of Writing Essays Called?

Almost all writers face the same anxieties when confronted with a writing task. Even scholars with a more positive attitude toward writing and a lot more writing experience can sometimes be paralyzed by a fear of writing.

At times the fear of writing anxiety can become so pronounced that it cuts our productivity. Fear of writing in public is known as Script phobia, while Graphophobia is fear of handwriting.

The fear of Judgment is the most significant anxiety that many writers face.

Many students fear the disgrace attached to poor grades, the judgment of tutors, and being seen as dumb.

How to get over the Fear of Writing an Essay?

The first step in overcoming writing fears is to know it exists and admit that you experience it. Acknowledging that such anxieties are integral to the writing process and profession is essential.

For some people, that acknowledgment alone may be enough to dispel and manage the fear of writing. Others tend to have problems in writing essays that they do not tackle.

One of the best ways to overcome the fear of writing essays is to write regularly and develop an interest in the topic intentionally. Successful writers have a genuine interest in their subject, which helps them develop positive writing experiences.

Successful writers focus on their fascination. They do not write for their tutors, their colleagues, or for a journal. So to overcome the fear of writing, develop an interest in your subject, make sure you write, and continue doing so despite the nagging doubts.

• Fear of Process; we may fear the act of sitting down and setting ourselves to the hard work of writing.
• The fear of success; we often attach high expectations of relief, happiness, and success on an assignment and may fear completing the project for fear that these positive feelings will not materialize when the project wraps.

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How to Write a Good Essay Despite the Fear

The most critical step in writing a research paper or an essay is to understand the essay question. Make sure you know what the essay prompt is asking. The essay prompt will help you to know about the required research sources.

Create a thesis statement; you should draft a thesis statement after developing your tentative arguments and responses and doing the initial research. It must concisely advance an argument that addresses the essay prompt.

Make an outline; it provides an overall structure to the essay and helps you organize ideas.

An overview helps you to organize your piece, making it comprehensive and convincing to your reader.

Create a rough draft to articulate your argument and gather the supporting evidence. Appropriately cite all your sources because improper citation is plagiarism.

Make the final draft and polish your essay by checking for spelling and grammar errors.

Complete the assignment by proofreading the paper. Reread the task to ensure all the details are in order and have met all the requirements.

Describing my College Essay Writing Experience and how I Beat the Fear

My writing experience in college gives me a chance to develop myself as a person and sharpen my skills in my area of interest.

The Writing Center has taught me many writing rules and tips that I was unaware of and would never have learned had it not been a part of my writing experience.

The experience has enabled me to improve my academic and life skills. It also made me realize that I still have much to learn despite what I thought and be open to new experiences.

It allows me to continue improving my skills as I grow in my profession and gives me greater confidence in my field.

As a result, this valuable writing experience has helped me search for a rewarding career. There will continue to be many more opportunities to improve myself and my profession due to my writing experience in college, for which I am truly thankful.

People Also Read: Put my paper in APA format for free? No, I learned to do it

The Importance of Writing to a Student’s Life

Writing improves your communication skills. It develops clarity, improves focus, and helps you understand yourself. To write well, read more. Familiarize yourself with free, easily available essays to know how they are written.

Writing will also improve your speech and vocabulary, which are essential in public speaking. These qualities are critical to success in life, including business, career, personal, family, etc.

In addition, writing gives you an opportunity to socialize as you express yourself to others. You use words to entertain, socialize, and put forth your personal or professional point of view to a broad or specific audience. To a student, writing is essential and integral part of their studies.

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How do you usually Feel About Writing Essays?

Some people enjoy writing; to them, it comes naturally, while most of us have to learn and cultivate the skill.  To enjoy writing your essays, you need good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.

Negative feelings

Generally, when most writers think about writing, they get negative feelings. People get depressed, stressed, or feel that they can’t do it, and much more.  For these reasons, you may find that you procrastinate when you have to write.

You may have ideas but have difficulty putting them on paper because you think that when people read your work, they can see how stupid you are.

Some doubts

You may also become assailed by doubts and feel that everybody knows what to do, but you are the only one who doesn’t.

If you experience these negative feelings, know you are not alone or the only one who does.

Almost all writers, including those with vast experience, get nagging doubts when they write.

We all have that inner critic who spreads all kinds of doubts about our work and instills fear.

When you have this kind of experience, the best thing to do is find out your biggest fear about writing.

This will enable you to work in a more focused manner towards a solution.

You can try asking yourself when you get positive experiences with writing. Then, find out what lessons you can draw can from those experiences. That way, you can easily overcome the fear of writing an essay.

A Gasp of the Topic

You will enjoy writing very much when you are familiar with the subject. So it is vital to take some time to grasp the topic you are writing about; otherwise, you will not be motivated to write about it.

Writing will become enjoyable because it will give you a sense of accomplishment when you complete the assignment.

People Also Read: How to Write a Cover Letter for a Research Paper: Tips & Steps

How do you Feel Before and After Writing your Essay?

What feeling do you get when you are given a writing assignment? If you are like most students, you feel a sense of trepidation, stress, anxiety, self-doubt, and worry about the outcome.

Every time the assignment gets tough, you are seized by fear and wonder whether or how you will get to complete it. Often, writers are hit by writer’s block and become paralyzed, unable to start working on the essay.

And how does it feel when you complete writing an essay? It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? You get a taste of relief and a sense of accomplishment. You can get the same relief without the pain if you hire an essay writer to do your paper or essay.

Even as you may anticipate hearing what your tutors or readers think, you realize you have made a valuable contribution to the world.

People Also Read: Can You Use Contractions in Essays or Research Papers

Beat the anxiety. Just get over the fear of writing an essay and be on your way to scoring As. There is more to gain by writing than any other learning activity. Be bold and become a good writer to express yourself and beat your fears. Writing is also among the most crucial skills helping you to get a job.

Therefore, learning writing skills and developing a positive experience is essential because it is one of the most critical skills you need. If you still doubt yourself, get an essay writer from us and you will score your A just fine and relaxed.

With over 10 years in academia and academic assistance, Alicia Smart is the epitome of excellence in the writing industry. She is our managing editor and is in charge of the writing operations at Grade Bees.

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Essay on Fear

Students are often asked to write an essay on Fear in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Fear

Understanding fear.

Fear is a basic human emotion that alerts us to the presence of danger. It is fundamental to our survival, making us respond quickly when we sense a threat.

Fear’s Role

Fear helps us make decisions that protect us from harm. It triggers our ‘fight or flight’ response, preparing our bodies to either confront or escape danger.

Overcoming Fear

Fear can be overcome by understanding and facing it. When we challenge our fears, we learn to control them, reducing their impact on our lives.

The Positive Side of Fear

Fear can also be positive, motivating us to push beyond our comfort zones, leading to personal growth and achievement.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Fear
• Speech on Fear

250 Words Essay on Fear

Fear is an innate emotional response to perceived threats. It is evolutionarily wired into our brains, acting as a survival mechanism that alerts us to danger and prepares our bodies to react. While fear can be a beneficial response, it can also be debilitating when it becomes chronic or irrational.

The Physiology of Fear

Fear triggers a cascade of physiological responses, including the release of adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones prepare the body for the ‘fight or flight’ response by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels. This process, while crucial for survival in threatening situations, can lead to health problems if sustained over a long period.

Fear and the Mind

Psychologically, fear can be both a conscious and subconscious experience. It can be based on real threats or imagined ones, leading to anxiety disorders and phobias. Fear can also influence decision-making, often leading to risk-averse behavior. Understanding the psychological aspects of fear is essential for effective mental health treatment.

Overcoming fear involves recognizing and confronting it. Techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction can be effective. These strategies aim to change the thought patterns that lead to fear and teach coping mechanisms to manage fear responses.

Fear in Society

Fear also plays a significant role in society, influencing politics, economics, and social interactions. It can be used as a tool of manipulation, or it can drive societal change. Recognizing the societal implications of fear is crucial for fostering a more understanding and empathetic society.

In conclusion, fear is a complex emotion with profound impacts on individuals and society. Understanding its mechanisms and implications can help us navigate our fears and use them as catalysts for growth.

500 Words Essay on Fear

Introduction.

Fear is a universal human experience, an essential part of our biological makeup that has evolved over millions of years. It is a complex emotion that can be both protective and paralyzing, serving as a warning signal for danger while also potentially hindering personal growth and exploration. This essay explores the multifaceted nature of fear, its psychological implications, and its role in shaping human behavior and society.

The Biological Basis of Fear

Fear is fundamentally rooted in our biology. It is a response triggered by the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped structure in the brain that processes emotional stimuli. When we perceive a threat, the amygdala activates the body’s fight-or-flight response, leading to physiological changes such as increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and heightened alertness. This response is adaptive and has been crucial for human survival, allowing us to react quickly to potential threats.

The Psychological Aspect of Fear

Psychologically, fear is a multifaceted emotion with wide-ranging implications. It can be both acute, as in the immediate response to a threat, and chronic, as in the long-term fear associated with anxiety disorders. Fear can also be learned through conditioning or observation, which explains why different individuals may have different fear responses to the same stimulus.

Fear can lead to avoidance behavior, where individuals steer clear of situations that they perceive as threatening. While this can be protective, it can also be limiting, preventing individuals from pursuing opportunities and experiences that could lead to personal growth.

Fear and Society

On a societal level, fear can be both a unifying and a divisive force. It can bring people together in the face of a common threat, but it can also be exploited to manipulate public opinion and justify oppressive policies. Fear can lead to stereotyping and discrimination, as individuals or groups are scapegoated as threats to societal safety and order.

Overcoming fear involves recognizing and understanding it. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one effective method, as it helps individuals reframe their fearful thoughts and gradually expose themselves to feared situations. Mindfulness and meditation can also be beneficial, allowing individuals to stay present and focused rather than getting caught up in fearful thoughts.

In conclusion, fear is an integral part of the human experience, with deep biological roots and far-reaching psychological and societal implications. While it can be protective, it can also be limiting and divisive. Understanding and managing fear is therefore crucial, not just for individual well-being, but also for societal harmony and progress. As we navigate through an increasingly complex and uncertain world, the ability to confront and overcome our fears will be more important than ever.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Family
• Essay on Ethics
• Essay on Equality

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Overcoming Fear Essay

Table of Contents

Introduction on Overcoming Fear Essay

Fear is an emotion that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. It can manifest in various forms, such as anxiety, phobia, and panic attacks. Fear can hold us back from pursuing our dreams, taking risks, and experiencing new things. It is essential to learn how to overcome fear to achieve success and fulfillment in life. This essay will explore the different ways to overcome fear, including facing your fears, changing your mindset, seeking support, and using relaxation techniques, with the potential aid of essay writing help to further understand and articulate these methods effectively.

Facing Your Fears

The most effective way to overcome fear is to face it head-on. It may seem daunting, but confronting your fears can help you gain control over them. For instance, if you have a fear of public speaking, you could start by speaking in front of a small audience, such as friends or family members. Gradually increase the audience size until you feel comfortable speaking in front of a larger group. Similarly, if you have a fear of heights, you could try bungee jumping or skydiving to confront your fear.

Facing your fears can be challenging, but it can also be rewarding. It can help you build confidence, self-esteem, and resilience. Moreover, it can expand your comfort zone and open up new opportunities. For example, if you overcome your fear of public speaking, you may be able to advance in your career, deliver more effective presentations, and communicate more confidently with others.

Changing Your Mindset

Another way to overcome fear is to change your mindset. Fear is often the result of negative thinking patterns, such as catastrophizing, black-and-white thinking, and mind-reading. These patterns can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, where you believe the worst-case scenario will happen, and you act accordingly, which reinforces your fear.

To change your mindset, you need to challenge your negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. For example, if you have a fear of failure, you could challenge the thought that “I will never succeed” by asking yourself, “What evidence do I have to support this thought?” You may realize that you have succeeded in the past and that failure is a natural part of the learning process.

Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones can help you feel more optimistic, hopeful, and confident. It can also help you develop a growth mindset, where you view failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. This mindset can help you overcome fear and achieve your goals.

Seeking Support

Overcoming fear can be challenging, and you may need support from others. Seeking support from friends, family members, or a therapist can help you cope with your fears and develop effective strategies to overcome them.

Talking to someone who understands your fears can provide a sense of validation and empathy. Moreover, they may offer practical advice, such as relaxation techniques or exposure therapy, that can help you overcome your fears. For example, if you have a fear of flying, a therapist may suggest exposure therapy, where you gradually expose yourself to flying-related stimuli until you feel more comfortable flying.

Using Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques can help you manage your fear and anxiety. These techniques can include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and yoga. They can help you reduce physical tension and calm your mind, which can help you feel more relaxed and less fearful.

Deep breathing involves taking slow, deep breaths through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth. This technique can help you reduce your heart rate and blood pressure, which can help you feel more relaxed.

Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups in your body. This technique can help you release physical tension and reduce anxiety.

Meditation involves focusing your attention on your breath or a specific object or mantra. This technique can help you clear your mind and reduce stress and anxiety.

Yoga involvesstretching and holding poses while focusing on your breath. This technique can help you improve your flexibility, balance, and strength while reducing stress and anxiety.

Using relaxation techniques can help you manage your fear and anxiety in the moment, but it may not be enough to overcome your fear in the long term. However, combining relaxation techniques with other strategies, such as facing your fears, changing your mindset, and seeking support, can be more effective.

Examples Of Overcoming Fear

Many people have overcome their fears and achieved success in their personal and professional lives. For example, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, overcame her fear of failure and rejection by persevering through multiple rejections from publishers before finding success. Similarly, Oprah Winfrey overcame her fear of public speaking by facing her fears and becoming one of the most successful and influential media personalities in the world.

Athletes also frequently overcome fear to achieve success. For instance, Simone Biles, one of the most decorated gymnasts in history, has spoken about her fear of the “twisties,” a condition where gymnasts lose their spatial awareness mid-air. Despite experiencing the twisties during the 2021 Olympics, Biles returned to competition and won a bronze medal on the balance beam.

Why Is Overcoming Fear Important In Life?

Overcoming fear is important in life for several reasons. Firstly, fear can hold us back from pursuing our goals and dreams. For example, if someone has a fear of public speaking, they may avoid giving presentations or speaking in front of groups, limiting their opportunities for career advancement or personal growth. Overcoming this fear can help them unlock their full potential and achieve their goals.

Secondly, fear can lead to anxiety, stress, and other negative emotions that can affect our mental and physical health. Overcoming fear can help us reduce these negative emotions and improve our overall well-being.

Thirdly, fear can prevent us from experiencing new things and taking risks. Overcoming fear can help us expand our comfort zones and try new things that can lead to personal growth and self-discovery.

Finally, overcoming fear can help us build resilience and self-confidence. By facing and overcoming our fears, we can develop a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem that can help us tackle other challenges in life with greater confidence.

In summary, overcoming fear is essential for personal growth, achieving our goals, and improving our mental and physical well-being. By facing our fears and developing effective strategies to overcome them, we can unlock our full potential and lead more fulfilling lives.

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What Can We Learn From Overcoming Fear?

Overcoming fear can teach us many valuable lessons that can help us in various aspects of our lives. Here are some of the key lessons we can learn from overcoming fear:

Courage and resilience:  Overcoming fear requires courage and resilience. By facing our fears and persevering through the discomfort and uncertainty, we can develop a stronger sense of these qualities, which can help us tackle other challenges in life.

Self-awareness:  Overcoming fear requires us to be aware of our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Through this process, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, our triggers, and our coping mechanisms, which can help us manage future fears and challenges more effectively.

Growth mindset:  Overcoming fear requires a growth mindset, which is the belief that we can learn and grow from our experiences, even when they are uncomfortable or challenging. This mindset can help us approach future challenges with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn and adapt.

Empathy:  Overcoming fear can also help us develop empathy for others who are facing their own fears and challenges. Through our own experiences, we can better understand and relate to others who are struggling, and offer support and encouragement.

Gratitude:  Overcoming fear can also teach us to appreciate the positive aspects of our lives and the opportunities we have to grow and learn. By focusing on the positive outcomes of our efforts, we can develop a sense of gratitude that can help us maintain a positive outlook and cope with future challenges.

In summary, overcoming fear can teach us valuable lessons about courage, resilience, self-awareness, growth mindset, empathy, and gratitude. By applying these lessons to other areas of our lives, we can become more resilient, adaptable, and empathetic individuals.

In conclusion, fear is a common emotion that can hold us back from pursuing our goals and experiencing new things. However, there are many ways to overcome fear, including facing your fears, changing your mindset, seeking support, and using relaxation techniques. Overcoming fear can be challenging, but it can also be rewarding, helping you build confidence, resilience, and self-esteem. With persistence and determination, anyone can overcome their fears and achieve success in their personal and professional lives.

List Of Few Topics On Overcoming Fear Essay

• The role of mindfulness in conquering fear
• How to overcome a fear of public speaking
• The benefits of facing your fears head-on
• The psychological origins of phobias and how to overcome them
• Overcoming the fear of failure
• The power of positive thinking in overcoming fear
• The role of therapy in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of heights
• The role of physical activity in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of flying
• The importance of support from loved ones in overcoming fear
• The role of visualization in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of the dark
• The role of self-affirmation in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of needles or injections
• The role of hypnotherapy in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of water
• The role of exposure therapy in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of snakes or other animals
• The role of cognitive-behavioral therapy in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of clowns or other phobias
• The role of neurolinguistic programming in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of public transportation
• The role of meditation in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of speaking in front of large groups
• The role of affirmations in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of the unknown
• The role of goal-setting in overcoming fear
• How to overcome a fear of heights or bridges
• How to overcome a fear of the ocean or deep water

Cooper Robinson

Hi, I am Cooper Robinson. I am a full-time academic writer with expertise in essay writing. Having completed my Master's degree, I worked as an English professor. For six long years, I had been reading hundreds of essays with repetitive content, zero creativity, and full of copied facts. Listing Now, I am on a mission to make all those dull essays sparkle, so that students do not miss out on top grades. I'veI've written a couple of guest posts on essay writing for prominent academic writing sites. Apart from English essay writing, I love coffee and sushi. When I am not making essay warriors out of students, I am probably off to some fishing or biking adventure. 

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Fear — My Biggest Fear and How I Overcame It

My Biggest Fear and How I Overcame It

• Categories: Fear

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Words: 311 |

Published: Mar 17, 2023

Words: 311 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

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