The Fearless Ones

  

I've wanted to blog for the past three years and every time I started the 'what ifs' got me. Followed by a bout of the 'crazies.' So whenever the idea lit up in my head I doused it with a super-efficient water hose.

Yup, I was afraid. Yup, I was a scaredy cat. Yup, I let my fear talk me out of writing in the public domain for years. I would see friends, acquaintances, classmates and workmates set up blogs, create conversations and post away. The fearless ones. That's what I called them.

A few years ago, I started working on my current story. My WIP's MC, Priscilla Mayfair, is a determined twelve year old who is facing all kinds of trouble. In my first draft, she surmounted every obstacle, figured out every clue and solved the causes of her problems. She was my ideal heroine. By the second draft I'd made her a little less perfect. She couldn't solve the mystery on her own and needed help from her friends.  Still, as I worked with my critique group on rewrites I could feel there was something missing. Even when Priscilla was facing a dark dead end she wasn’t afraid. I needed her to reach inside her as much as she was reaching outside herself to become who she was and solve the clues of the mystery.

So I weaved in the threads to make Priscilla three dimensional. Now, Priscilla was not only overcoming obstacles, she was also working her way through her fears and fighting her own uncertainties. Acknowledging and accepting her fears had made Priscilla a richer and more real character. She’d become one of the fearless.

My MC had taught me something about the world. (Isn’t it usually the other way round?) Being brave isn’t about not being afraid. It’s about being afraid and doing it any way. It’s about being a scaredy cat and fighting your way out of fear paralysis and doing what you want to do. So this time round when my friends suggested a blog I said yes! Yup, I was still afraid but this time I wasn't going to allow fear to stop me from doing what I wanted.

Hello world of writers! I’m so happy to be blogging with the fearless writers at the shore Toni, Kimmy and Heather and look forward to good conversations and making friends