The world can be full of scary things. What is out there that would scare a writer? Since there is a phobia for just about everything, it wasn’t hard to find specific phobias that would hinder a writer’s success. Some may even keep him from writing at all.
bibliophobia, profesysversion.blogspot.com
If the thought of having one of the following phobias is bad, then just how bad would it be if you actually did have one or more of them? I wonder, would the desire to write be strong enough for you to overcome your fear? Is it possible that your fear would enhance your writing?
If you don’t have any of the following phobias (and I really hope you don’t), then why don’t you write a story about a wannabe writer who has one or more of them? Help this character overcome the phobias he or she has. Then have your character go on to become a published writer, one whose books are in great demand.
Anthropophobia is the fear of meeting people. This one wouldn’t so much hinder one from writing anything, but it could develop into a problem when the writer needs to meet new people like agents, publicists, or fans.
fear, flickr
Bibliophobia is the fear of books. Maybe a writer afflicted with this phobia could just write short stories or articles. But a fear of books would make researching any subject difficult. Research could always be done on the internet, but if this writer also has interophobia, the fear of the internet, then that would also be out of the question.
Catagelophobia or katagelophobia is the fear of being made fun of or ridiculed. I used to fear that people would make fun of the stories and/or articles that I wrote, but after years of writing articles, this fear has subsided. This fear doesn’t so much hinder your writing, but it keeps you from letting others read your writing. It could also keep you from sending your creations off to publishers.
public speaking, wikimedia commons
Glossophobia of is the fear of speaking in public. This phobia may hinder one from joining a writers’ group. If an author’s writing is a success, then this may slow down his or her career when invitations to appear on television shows or radio shows for interviews are turned down. This phobia would even make one not want to speak to a classroom full of those wanting to learn more about writing.
Ideophobia is the fear of ideas. Where would a writer be without any ideas? New and exciting ideas are such a huge part of this career. Why would one be afraid of them? There isn’t a lot of information on this phobia, but I don’t know if someone with this phobia could be a writer.
lots of words, flickr
Logophobia or verbophobia is the fear of words. Wow. Not only would that hinder writing, it would hinder speaking and listening to others talk. How would one manage to communicate with a fear of words? Sign language? Even this would require having a silent vocabulary.
Would a person who was afraid of words be reading this article? Would he read anything at all?
Panphobia or pantophobia is the fear of nothing specific. It is the fear of everything. A person with this phobia lives in a state of anxiety all the time.
poverty, wikipedia
Peniaphobia is the fear of poverty. Maybe this phobia wouldn’t so much thwart writers as much as make them work harder at attempting to write a best seller. It really isn’t easy to become rich by writing. There are a few lucky ones whose first novel becomes a smashing success, but that is not the norm.
Scopophobia is the fear of being seen or looked at. I guess one could just become a recluse and never leave the house or be seen by anyone, but writers do need to see other people. How would you know how people act without watching them? Characters on television act the way their writers make them act, not necessarily how they would act if they were real.
fear, wikipedia
Sophophobia is the fear of learning. Learning is an awesome part of writing. How can one write without acquiring more knowledge? What about research?
Tropophobia is the fear of making changes. This would be bad, especially when one had to make changes to the story thought to be absolute perfection. A writer’s ego, usually a fragile thing anyway, just might not be able to handle being told that his or her perfect story was not so perfect after all.
Do you know of any other phobias you believe could thwart a writer’s success?
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