What are many people’s two biggest fears?

Death and Public Speaking.

Is there a new contender in the Digital Age: The fear of writing online?

Maybe it feels like stepping onto a virtual stage… with an unseen audience?

Are you waking up in a cold sweat thinking that publishing your writing is like standing on stage in your ginch?

A year into writing online daily, I have seen, heard, and read A LOT of thoughts about how afraid people are to start writing online. Early on, I felt it too… it does get easier, way easier — similar to public speaking.

The death thing… well… that’s permanent and unavoidable. What we can control is our comfort and acceptance of it.

Writing Online — Feel the fear and do it anyways

For me, it’s now exactly 12 months of writing online daily. A year ago I walked away from an excellent salary, and more than a decade of climbing the corporate ladder in the public sector.

Problem is… I got to the last few rungs on the ladder, took a look around at the view… and what did I see?

A whole lot of people looking miserable, stressed, and unhealthy, which is about the same as I felt — especially after several years as a senior administrative leader in healthcare through COVID. Years of emergency planning and response — simultaneously. We were, metaphorically, building planes and runways and bridges while we flew, drove, and constructed all at the same time.

Everything everywhere all at once, so the popular movie is called, whilst planning for morgue capacity and lifesaving equipment tallies.

It was a twilight zone of nuttiness for several years.

I had to make a change. I walked away, with a little bit of financial runway in front of us — a family with 3 active teenagers. It wasn’t really a runway per se, as it was more like borrowing from future ‘retirement’.

At first, there wasn’t much of a plan other than I started writing.

Writing daily.

I was intent on building a digital writing business from scratch. I kept writing. Every day. Posting. Writing, thinking, posting. Writing, thinking, posting. Not so much planning. Recovering from burnout and some misery. It was like jet lag for corporate types. Maybe like Org-Chart-Lag or bureaucracy-burnout.

An endemic dis-ease from too many years in expensive, useless meetings. And not just any old meeting. There were pre-meeting meetings. Agenda-planning pre-meetings. Invite-list pre-meeting meetings. Then long, useless, fruitless meetings. Then post-meeting meetings. Safety meetings. Dispatch meetings. Meeting meetings. Impromptu meetings. Zoom meetings moved very slowly (non-zooming Zooms, I called them). It was dreadful.

And so my initial daily writing online was more of the ‘spray and pray’ variety. Far more about me and my thoughts.

Mainly LinkedIn to start. Then very slowly on Medium

I then started a Free weekly newsletter on Substack (Box Cutter), sharing my processes, systems, and experiences. Then gradual re-entry to Twitter. A slow pitter-patter on Instagram, and a return just recently to Facebook after 15 years away.

I had to get over the fear of posting online. Get past the:

“What will my colleagues think?”
And the “What will my future employers think?”.

Just post.

I’m fortunate that I’ve never really had much fear of public speaking — but then I forget that came because of years and years of doing it — as a facilitator, a teacher, an instructor, a coach, a prof, a senior bureaucratic leader.

There were some early fears about posting my writing online though. Thankfully, those are largely gone. Over 300 days of posting assisted this, but they still creep in on some posts, and on some stories.

After 12 months, here are some similarities between fears of public speaking and public writing

1. Fear of Judgment

The dread of being judged or criticized by others and writing online raises that fear of judgment even higher. In 12 months, I’ve actually found very few Trolls 👺. And really, it’s not a difficult thing to press “block” or “mute”. We just can’t always be the open gate to some folks’ miserable childhoods that now get played out on open social media forums.

2. The Spotlight Effect

Where we believe that others are paying more attention to us than they actually are.

News flash… most folks don’t really give a shit what you’re posting. And I mean that in the nicest way. The sooner I took this fully to heart, the easier the daily posting came.

3. Permanence of Content

A fear that written content, like a recording on the internet, can have a longer lifespan, heightening anxiety about making a mistake or being misunderstood. If in doubt, see #2

4. Loss of Control

Public speaking often involves relinquishing control, as we can’t predict an audience’s reaction. Similar fears circulate about writing online.

However, this is double-edged. For most folks writing online, we want to go “viral” — which we are not in control of. And that won’t happen unless you post regularly.

And, yup, you’re right, if you don’t post online then you are in control. But no one who has ever started a business is in full control. Just let it go…

5. Fear of Rejection

We worry that our thoughts or ideas won’t resonate with others or may even lead to some sort of exclusion. There are similar fears when approaching new relationships: friends, loved ones, etc.

If the fears of rejection are overwhelming, there are probably deeper things going on for you. Maybe childhood, maybe past relationships, maybe current ones? (We have some great free courses over at Humanity Academy that may be helpful, for example, Embracing your Inner Child).

These five fears, and more, are genuine and real — however often not accurate to the reality beyond our inner voices and raging inner assholes.

In a year of posting daily, I’ve written and posted on some pretty hot topics. I’ve taken on some hot-button issues. The blowback has been minor and more like a hangnail than the death and destruction we initially feel as our finger approaches the mouse or screen to press “Publish”.

When in doubt, just press it.

Six Tips for Overcoming Fears of Writing Online

1. Start Small

Ease into online writing by sharing your thoughts in a private or semi-private setting, like a closed group or a personal blog with limited access. Or a small following on Twitter with short-form posts. Reality is when we all start, we are starting small.

2. Practice Makes Progress

The more you write and share online, the more comfortable and confident you’ll become in your voice — no different than public speaking. This goes back to #1 above. Start small, stay consistent, and keep going.

3. Seek Constructive Feedback

Share your writing with trusted friends or mentors who can offer encouragement and constructive tips. Take a certain amount of caution with who you ask, and be specific about the kind of feedback you’re looking for. This will also help beat down your inner assholes.

Or, throw caution to the wind and just start posting. Rapid fire. Go for it!

4. Embrace Imperfection

We all fail, all the time. Like learning anything new, it’s going to feel awkward and clumsy. Like learning to ski, ride a bike, drive, or play a new game. Just join the fail army. The more it happens when writing online, the more comfortable you become with it. Failure is a critical balancer on the road to success.

5. Focus on Your Passions

Cliché, but accurate. Write about topics you’re genuinely interested in or passionate about, as this will support a more enjoyable process. I strongly recommend keeping a Learning Journal of your process and what you’re learning as you post more and more. Keep track of what you’re feeling as you get ready to post, and what happens afterward, and track some results.

Go back and visit this documentation. It’s a refreshing experience. This is part of what I decided to document in my Free weekly newsletter. What I’m doing, results, systems, and more.

6. Remember Your Value and Values

Your voice and perspective are unique and valuable, and your contributions have the potential to positively impact others who are on a similar journey. This goes back to #5 above and keeping a Learning Journal.

With 5 billion people accessing the Internet chances are high that some of those 5 billion ppl online are in similar stages as you, or will be as you rocket along in your journey.

The fear of writing online can be a big barrier for many, but it doesn’t have to hold you back. Simply starting is key. When in doubt, press “post”.

By understanding the parallels between fears of public speaking and writing online and applying the tips above, you can build confidence in your digital voice and share your thoughts and ideas.

Earlier this year I drew this diagram to assist my thinking and processes. Be cautious where you allocate ‘shits given’.

The things that are in your circle of control are your writing and making the choice to post (or not). You can influence the quality of your writing and thinking and then once it’s posted — let it go. This doesn’t mean don’t look at your analytics and double down on material that picks up positive signals. But letting go is the critical piece.

Have you worked past some fears and become a regular online writer?
Have you turned it into a business? Would love to hear about it.

Conquer Your Digital Stage Fright: Master the Art of Writing Online. Tips to triumph over any digital cold sweats