Fear of Fantasy


     I grew up reading Fantasy. It was my first love. I've read almost all of the Dragonlance books, all the Piers Anthony, loved David Eddings, and swooned over Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.
     With this love of Fantasy came the obvious wish to write Fantasy. It's what I always thought, hoped, and planned I'd write. I have a drawer-full of Fantasy stories started, but never finished.
     Now I'm starting a new WIP. It's... yep, Fantasy. And I'm TERRIFIED.
     Why?
     No. Clue.
     Maybe it's because I expect to WOW in my own Fantasy MS like the authors I read as a child wowed me. Maybe it's because I don't think I'll make up a world that is interesting and fantastical enough. Maybe, it's simply because I'm afraid I'm going to start yet another Fantasy story and never finish it.
      Maybe it's something else entirely, because the one thing I do know, is that I've had this fear of writing Fantasy since I started writing as a kid. I've always failed at it.
     What makes me think I'm going to succeed now?
     That question alone makes me tremble in my leather office chair. Even though I've managed two complete novels (and a third 95% complete), I still have the fear of FAILURE. For some reason, Fantasy does that to me. I hope hope hope that I will be able to overcome it this time.
     ...
     Now it's time for me to stop hoping and start doing.