Finding the courage to write and then letting go of your writing is a challenge for freelance writers, novelists, poets, and even bloggers! Here are tips on letting go of your writing…without fear.

Before the tips, a quip from a famous published author:

“Writers have to get used to launching something beautiful and watching it crash and burn,” writes Ursula Le Guin Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places. “They also have to learn when to let go control, when the work takes off on its own and flies, farther than they ever planned or imagined, to places they didn’t know they knew. All makers must leave room for the acts of the spirit. But they have to work hard and carefully, and wait patiently, to deserve them.”

Fellow scribes, you need to be prepared for anything as a writer! Long waits, rejection, success, adulation, no money, a little money, and always more blank pages to fill. To learn more about overcoming fear of writing, click on The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes. And, read on for tips on letting go of your writing…

3 Ways to Let Go Of Your Writing

1. Learn from the disasters. Le Guin talks about watching your writing “crash and burn.” To me, that means working hard on an article or book proposal and getting rejection after rejection. It also means receiving a kill fee instead of a published article – ouch, but I do understand why they killed one of my articles. From that, I learned what many magazine editors are looking for: practical services pieces that improve readers’ lives. From all my book rejections, I learned how to write a book proposal (perhaps not very well) and how admirable it is to finally get published.

2. Trust that your writing will serve its purposes – and beyond. When you write an article, novel, or book proposal, trust that somehow, somewhere, it will end up in the right magazine or publishing house. Better yet, let that be your motivation for writing. The more firmly you believe that your work will serve its purpose, the more disciplined you’ll be.

3. Work hard on new projects; let go of past ones. My husband says I’m “addicted” to writing. After we debated it for two years, I finally asked my friend who is an addictions counselor. She said that addicts can’t control their habits – their habits control them. Now I don’t wonder if I’m addicted to writing – I know it. Whether or not you’re addicted to writing or blogging or reporting, remember that you have to work hard. You can be addicted but still not published or productive.

“It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.” – Gerald Brenan, “Writing.” Thoughts in a Dry Season: Miscellany.

A huge part of becoming a “real” writer is not just sitting down and writing — it’s also letting go of your writing. Do you fear writing…or letting go of what you’ve written? I welcome your comment below!

~ Resources for Writers & Bloggers ~

Want to make your blog "sticky", so visitors stay longer? Try this beta "Click and Stick" program -- it's free!

But before you can entice visitors to stick to your blog, you need to learn a bit of search engine optimization. Scribe SEO offers information for web writers, bloggers, and affiliate marketers.

And, to find more freelance writing and editing jobs, consider joining GoFreelance.