Friday, April 6, 2012

What Do You Fear ??


The majority of this material was borrowed from:


1.      What is your deepest fear?
2.      To what extent would you go to avoid it?
3.      Where does this fear come from?
4.      What if your deepest fear was magnified by ten? Then, what extent would you go to in order to avoid it?
5.      What if you failed twice to overcome your fear? Would you try one more time to overcome it?
6.      Why or why not?

......

7.      What are you least willing to admit about yourself?
8.      What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done wrong?
9.      If these secrets were revealed to the world, who would be hurt?
10.  What would you do to keep the secret from ever coming out?

...... 

11.  What is your deepest shame?
12.  Why are you a fraud?
13.  What are you powerless to change? 

......

Our worst fears are not hiding out there in the dark; they’re the darkness inside us.

Can we turn our fears to our advantage?

Authors do it every day. Think about some of your favorite books. When novelists unsettle us we praise them. As a story teller, fear is your friend. Authors are encouraged to open the door and invite fear in.

Try answering the above questions from your protagonist's point of view ... you might be surprised with what you discover.


The majority of this material was borrowed from:

Donald Maass founded the Donald Maass Literary Agency in New York in 1980. His agency sells more than 150 novels every year to major publishers in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of The Career Novelist (1996), Writing the Breakout Novel (2001), The Fire in Fiction (2009) and The Breakout Novelist (2011). He is a past president of the Association of Authors’ Representatives, Inc.

22 comments:

  1. I think I have "healthy fears". For example, I have a huge fear of high winds and tornadoes. Maybe it is just me--but I don't like the thought of the wind maybe lifting my house up off the ground and taking me with it!! I usually hide out in the lowest part of my house when things get tense.

    I also have a fear of snakes--namely poisonous ones. The thought of one striking me and possibly cutting my life short isn't appealing. A water moccassin and I met once. I was really calm until after it decided I wasn't tasty enough for lunch. Then I flipped out. Ha-Ha! We didn't exactly part as friends--but we parted peacefully. LOL.

    Those would be my two biggest fears! The rest of them, I'm all set to conquer!

    Cheers, Jenn
    http://www.wine-n-chat.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. My deepest fear . . . 1) My kids dying and 2) dying in plane crash. There are some morbid thoughts for the day :(

    Secondary fears . . . 1) Never being published, but since writing is in my blood and I doubt I'll ever give it up, I'm learning to see success in writing as more than the end result 'being published.'

    Part of success for me has become the journey toward honing my craft and feeling deeply satisfied with the work I do, and also, being proud of the determination it takes to stay on the writer's journey. Happy Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My fears are the usual ones, dying, having a car accident. It's the second section that really got to me. What am I least willing to admit about myself. Well, I guess I'm just not prepared to say!
    A to Z of Nostalgia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mine are heights, deep water, and snakes. I still haven't completely conquered the first two, but flying over the Atlantic Ocean on our way to Jamaica makes me at least face them for a small amount of time. I'll never get over snakes.

    Thanks for the questions. I'll try them out with my characters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. fear is big in my life right now, as my loved one has terminal cancer. I fear what his end will be like. I fear what my life alone will be like.
    Tough stuff and yes, I am writing about it.

    Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry to hear of your struggle. I hope you can find peace.

      Delete
  6. I used to be terrified of spiders. Anymore, I'm not afraid of much. I've been around quite a bit of death, long painful illnesses, short, quick endings. Staying with a stranger as she died in an accident. I've been pretty sick myself and have a disease that ultimately could kill me. Whatever time I have left, I want to enjoy it.

    I'm old enough to be quite aware of the wrongs I've committed for which I should be ashamed. Where I've been able to I've made amends. As for the rest... it is in the past, only I can allow it to hurt me and I choose another way. I have only this moment and I choose to breathe, to smile, to be thankful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Writing about our fears is a powerful tool. I * think* it helps, but I'm not sure. My greatest fear is to lose one of my little children, my other one is being caught or a loved one caught in a fire.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, forgot to mention, I'm doing the A-Z blogging challenge too! Nice to visit here again with another Margo!

    ReplyDelete
  9. "As a story teller, fear is your friend." Love it. Today I embrace my fear because I'm a few chapters behind schedule and need to get caught up today.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooh good choice for F. I read Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers some years ago. Great book. Very thought provoking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Loved that book! I just bought it last month because I stumbled across it. Everything in that book makes sense.

      Delete
  11. I find I'm beyond fear anymore. Life's too short.

    I hope you don't mind that I picked you for the One Lovely Blog Award, Margo, even though you already got it several times!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting to do this with a MC! I'll try it!

    My biggest fear is drowning or something bad happening to my kids, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm scared of so many things. I hope my characters are braver than me!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Margo,

    Great thought-provoking post, I think I just found my new favorite blog. Love the way you write!

    I discovered your site through the A to Z Challenge and am now a follower, but not in a stalker-ish way with binoculars and night vision goggles or anything like that ….

    Feel free to take a peek at my blog too if you have time. I write humor, and people tell me I’m funny (maybe it’s just the voices in my head, that’s what the doctor told me this last time when he upped my meds again).

    http://mothersofbrothersblog.blogspot.com

    best,
    MOV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HA. Very nice to meet you. Thanks for the compliment!!

      Delete
  15. Wonderful post. I have lots of fears - have you got all day? ;)
    I like to put the fear in my characters but then I do write crime.
    Look forward to reading more from your challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Margo, I admit I'm afraid of vampires and werewolves. And bats, real bats. Necrotizing fasciitis, too. I guess I better stop or I'll give myself horrible nightmares. :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. I used to be afraid of so many things, but the older I get the less I worry. Now, I'm just afraid for other people, like my daughters.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Why does it feel like we just started a group therapy session? haha. Thanks for all of the awesome comments everyone!

    ReplyDelete