FEAR

What is it good for...?

Photo by Chris Slupski on Unsplash

Oh, I’m getting weary of Unsplash photos! But what caught me with this one is the face of the child up front, held in the arms of a woman, possibly her mother, who seems to be genuinely enjoying herself.

The child appears to be sick with fear. I look at her face, at the way her mouth is closed; there’s something she doesn’t want to let escape her, she’s holding back. I feel for this kid.

I’m not a fan of rides. I took my sons to Disneyland once ages ago, and the first ride I went on, I was stiff with anxiety climbing off at the end; the next ride I forced myself to relax. Yes, you can do that, I think, consciously taking a breath, deep in and out, telling myself to chill, relax muscles, and—again, consciously, went with the show.

And enjoyed it as much as I can. I did have fun. And have no desire to do another ride in my life.

This quote crossed my way recently, and it’s worth taking on a roller-coaster testing spin:

“I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”

Stephen King

How does this work?

Dig around the quote a bit, and there are ideas of fear causing a writer to hold back—to be less forceful with language, for instance—to soften the words one might choose. Fear can cause dishonesty in the writing, agreed.

I’ve read King’s memoir/craft book On Writing more than once, and would like to see exactly where the quote is from. Like so many such quotes, much can be lost by pulling out of context, so I’m not going to presume.

There many possible sources of “fear,” and many outcomes, too.