Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.
Interpretation
Writers experience fear and anxiety throughout the writing process.
This quote emphasizes that fear and anxiety are universal emotions that writers face, whether they are beginners or seasoned professionals. The mention of feeling these emotions from the first word to the last highlights the constant struggle of overcoming self-doubt and the pressures of creativity in writing.
In practice
During a writing workshop, I shared this quote to encourage participants to embrace their fears.
Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one's focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no longer visible, thereby transforming data collection into bias confirmation and morphing self-deception into self-assurance.
Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.
Popular opinions, on subjects not palpable to sense, are often true, but seldom or never the whole truth.
We may give advice, but not the sense to use it.
The heart is like a mirror. When we dust it off, we are able to see ourselves. The dust is all our stuff - guilt, anger - this stuff is reflected back to us. Practice removes the dust from the mirror of our hearts.
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