294. writing fiction

Fear makes us fiction writers. Instead of letting our story unfold, we manifest ideas that are wrapped in fear by continually thinking what if... Pretty soon, we’re spiraling down a hole of negative consequences to our actions in a story that hasn’t even happened yet. Much of the time, our reservations about the future are driven by fear, which holds us back from taking necessary action, and therefore imprisons us in our imaginations. To paraphrase the words of the Roman philosopher Seneca; “Our fears are more numerous than our dangers, and we suffer more in our imagination than reality.” The anticipation of any negative outcome is warranted only in the sense that we can plan how to maneuver around them, but they should never be a reason to not take action. So write your story as it happens.