Training Exercise #15: 100 Fears

O Brave Agents! Today we continue our Journey to the Center of our Selves. Today we investigate our Fears.

I trust that you Catalogued your Excuses yesterday, for I know you are Diligent Agents, and Faithfully perform the exercies.

Take your Note-Book, and write out One-Hundred Fears about Writing.

Yes, my little Apple Blossoms, 100.

You will find the first few Easy. You will find the next few Repetitive. Never mind; Keep your Pen moving. Write them down, no matter how Foolish or Ridiculous or Unfounded they may Seem.

For your Deepest Fears are secretive little Beasts; they are not the ones that Present themselves when you first Ask. They will only allow themselves to be Recorded after Persistent effort: like the apparent Idiocy of writing 100 Fears.

I ask for your Trust, my Brave Agents. Write 100 fears. You may be surprised what Presents itself.

Begin! Now! And do not Stop until you have reached 100.

1. I am afraid I am too Stupid.

2. I am afraid Spiders will Nibble upon my Corneas.

3. I am afraid I will sustain Physical Damage from Too much Typing.

4. I am afraid People will Reject my Stories and Laugh about me Behind my Back.

5. I am afraid Editors will secretly Blacklist me at their Private Editorial Conferences held each Year, in which they Discuss my Failings.

6. I am afraid all Writers must be Dissoulute Suicides.

7. I am afraid all Writers must be Mad.

8. I am afraid of the Number 8.

9. I am afraid this Exercise is Stupid and I am Wasting my Precious Time.

10. I am afraid no one will Understand my Stories.

And so forth. Make a List, my little Chimpanzees. Make a List. Write your List in a white-hot Frenzy, and see what you Uncover.

What did you Discover?