Is It Possible for a Writer to Fail?

One of a writer’s greatest fears is failure, in one or multiple of its many forms.

We’re afraid of being told no. We’re afraid that we’ll put a ton of work into something and nothing will ever come of it. We’re afraid that we’re not good enough, that people who say we have it in us are lying to our faces.

We’re afraid that writing won’t “happen” for us the way we’ve always dreamed it will.

We’re especially afraid of that. Because we don’t want to have to turn to someone else — or even look at ourselves in the mirror — and say we didn’t follow through on a promise or we reached but not quite high enough.

Because failure is this thing that always looms just close enough for us to remember it’s there.

That it’s possible.

But I don’t think we need to fear failure as much…