As writers, and creative people, one of our greatest fears is the fear of judgement. However, it is an inevitable part of the life and work of someone who creates for a living, including the professional writer. We love the joy and sense of accomplishment we gain from creating a great piece of work. And yes, that great work may include a very dry policy or a straightforward technical document.
Our fear of being judged is also one of our greatest fears as human beings. It is something we experience at a subconscious level. It’s real, and stems from our need to be accepted by other people and included in the social group. Psychologist Nathan DeWall at the University of Kentucky, says that “acceptance- in romantic relationships, from friends, even from strangers- is absolutely fundamental to humans”.
So, we have a deep-seated need to be accepted by others, and by extension, to produce work that is acceptable to others, to avoid being ostracized or excluded. No one wants to be left behind.
Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist and the author of Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To, writes specifically about judgement: “Humans are very social, tribal creatures. We evolved in tight-knit communities, which is our evolutionary strength. When we’re all working together, we can compete with any other animal… In the wild, if you’re rejected, you’re going to die pretty quickly. So we are very wary of other people’s judgement of us.”
As writers we organize, create, write, and revise our work. That’s our job. However, we might be out of a job if we don’t find ways to connect to our work, to find value in it, and to connect to our audiences. This is where our hearts play a role: creating excellent writing and giving it depth and purpose.
After that, we move on to the difficult work of editing our writing and cutting out parts we love, and think are perfect. Our peers and editors help us with the harsh work of deconstructing, criticizing, editing, and cutting. It is hard on us as writers, and people, to go through the scary experience of judgement and criticism.
To become better professional writers, and to thrive in this career, we need to protect our hearts and our emotions throughout the creative process.
We can learn to protect our hearts and become more resilient when facing the criticism inherent to our work as professional writers. We can learn strategies to compartmentalize our work and address our feelings about the process. We can practice keeping our hearts off the page.
Dear writer, please don’t leave your precious heart on the page to be crushed. Just leave behind your fine writing. Keep your heart safe, so you may continue to create other great pieces, do good work in the world, and of course, pursue great loves.