Our Mission
Our mission at Fear of Writing is threefold. We're here to:
(1) put the fun back into writing;
(2) provide a safe place for writers and closet writers to explore their imaginations;
(3) help you
make your writing dreams come true.
On this page you'll find out what we mean by putting the “fun” back into writing, who can benefit from trying it, and what options you have for getting started—whether you're brand new to writing or just looking for fresh inspiration during a dry season.
Also on this page (and throughout the site), you'll meet writers who regularly have fun and experience noticeable benefits using the Fear of Writing method. You'll even meet “closet writers” who've come out of the closet. Look for photos on every page.
My name is Milli Thornton, author of the book, and you can hear my Welcome Message by clicking the play button below. Or, go straight to “Page Contents” and zero in on what most appeals to you. Have fun!
CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON TO HEAR HOW FEAR OF WRITING GOT ITS NAME
I'm owning aspects of myself I was trying to hide before. It is wonderful being released and it's because you have this site and I know I'm not alone or crazy.
—Judith Chantler, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Milli, you cannot imagine how much positive impact you have had on me, my writing, and I’m sure, tons of other people!
—Sandy Fleming, Pipe Creek, Texas
Page Contents
How do I start having fun using this site?
Who can benefit from the Fear of Writing method?
Meet writers who have fun using Fear of Writing
Meet writers making their dreams come true
Is writing supposed to be fun?
How do I start having fun using this site?
Milli launched Fear of Writing in February 2000 by publishing the book. Since then, she has developed many features to help make FoW more and more user-friendly. Look down the list and pick what most appeals to you.
Free Newsletter for Writers The Fear of Writing Gazette is a writing newsletter with a difference. Rather than trying to educate you on how or where to get published (which other Websites do much better than we can!), we've used photos and short features to transform the Gazette into a writing family scrapbook. Everyone who joins Fear of Writing becomes part of the family . . . this is Milli's way of bringing all of us together in one place.
Fun & Outrageous Writing Prompts The Fertile Material writing prompts were invented by Milli when she had trouble finding the kind of creative writing prompts she longed for. “I wanted something that would trigger me into short story writing, complete with characters, dialogue and action,” she said, in the introduction to her book. You don't have to be an experienced writer to use these prompts. Read samples of the prompts and hear what others are saying about how much fun they are.
Closet Writers' Liberation Camp is a Yahoo! group for enthusiasts of the Fertile Material writing prompts (see above). If you can't attend the Fear of Writing Clinic or the weekly writing circles, you can join this group and post your stories online. Participation is on a spontaneous basis—there are no tedious commitments or deadlines.
Creative Writing Course Here's what one student said about the 8-week online course: “I am so on fire! I’ll try not to inundate you with my assignments, but I’m having so much fun with your course that it's hard to stop myself. I feel so safe in this course already—that is a treat to me! I am healing slowly and courses like these are rebuilding my hope. I always think of new writers as gentle reeds . . . easily damaged if bent too far.” Claudia Errington, Woodland, California
The Fear of Writing Clinic—coming soon to your telephone! Presently Milli runs the Fear of Writing Clinic in and around the Hill Country of Texas. But, in order to bring it to a wider audience, she's planning to start conducting the workshop by telephone. Telephone conferences (known as “teleseminars”) have become a popular tool to melt the miles away. Donna Brown, after attending the clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said: “The exercises were fun! I had a GREAT time!”
Hear Stories Written by FoW Regulars With the help of Texas Public Radio, Fear of Writing regulars in the Hill Country of Texas are banding together to record stories written in the weekly writing circles. Read how you can join the project, no matter where you live.
Brain Food for Writers An integrated brain is highly important for writing (in fact, it's vital to all human endeavors), and yet there's very little education for writers about how to keep our brains in shape for creativity. By clawing her way back from the twilight zone known as “sensory defensiveness,” Milli discovered some wonderful methods for enhancing brain function. Learn how to stamp out “brain drain”!
Inspirational Articles Discover the answers to burning questions such as “Water: Do Writers Need It?,” “Is My Writing Worth Ten Dollars an Hour?” and “Have We Forgotten How to Play?” Learn how to communicate with your reader, how to diversify as an author and how to gain the confidence to promote your first book. New to writing and feeling unsure of where to start? Read “Coming Out of the Writer's Closet for Good” by Lyn Canham.
Fun Stuff for Writers Find out how to register for the #1 Chatroom for Writers. Get a free Fear of Writing bumper sticker. Check out the Fear of Writing coffee mug and T-shirt. Surf through “Hot Links for Writers” without burning your tongue!
Return to Page Contents for "Our Mission"
Who can benefit from the Fear of Writing Method?
“Closet Writers” A closet writer is someone who's been dreaming of taking up writing but doesn't know where to start. Or is feeling intimidated. Or thinks you need some kind of degree or blessing from a literary figure to be a real writer. If you have ever said to yourself “What right do I have to call myself a writer?” then you're in the right place. As Sallye Beranak of Fort Collins, Colorado said: “It screams SAFE!”
(More about “closet writers”)
Any writer experiencing fear of writing “I’d been battling a case of writer’s block ever since the terrorist attack on September 11. Each word needed to be squeezed out of me like lemon juice, and when it hit the page it was just as sour. And then I read 'Jack’s House' (pg. 108, Fear of Writing). Every obstacle Helen encountered, every fear she had, every thought she had, paralleled my own troubles so completely I was stunned. I had been terrified that my fiction was trivial, meaningless, and without purpose, but when I finished reading 'Jack’s House' I understood what I needed to do. This was the miracle I’d been searching for. Thank you!”
—Jennifer Turner, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, author of Stark Knight
(What is “fear of writing”?) / (Article: Fear of Writing: Is It a Gene?)
Seasoned, published writers looking for fun “Dear Milli: Thank you so very much for coming to the LAWG meeting last night. Everybody had a lot of fun. And wasn’t it fun to see what a group of ‘brave’ [published] writers can do with the Fertile Material? The writing was hilarious and very creative. It’s intriguing to think that the Fertile Material has applications for motivating even the seasoned writer into another level of creativity.”
—Penelope Stowell, Los Alamos Writers’ Group, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 4/25/02
Kids who think writing's dumb “It really got them going. Even one student who never liked to write and usually stalled around was engaged.” —Micah Roseberry, principal, Country Day School, Taos, New Mexico, on using the Fertile Material writing prompts with her sixth graders
Kids who like to write but adults usually give them boring topics See Jake Reinhardt (age 8) and his sister Dana (age 12) in the next section.
Return to Page Contents for "Our Mission"
Meet Writers Who Have Fun Using Fear of Writing
The Reinhardts: A Writing Family
The Reinhardt Family is seen here at Books & Java in Canyon Lake, Texas.
From left to right: Dana (12), Jake (8), and their mother Michele.
Michele has attended the Fear of Writing Clinic and participated in the local weekly writing circle (Canyon Lake, Texas) with her kids.
Being a smart mom, Michele is encouraging her kids to have fun with writing. Using the Fertile Material prompts, Jake and Dana were published in the 4/13/05 issue of Fear of Writing Gazette.
Dana wrote a story using the prompt “Only the Wise” (pg. 23) and Jake chose the writing prompt “Scarlet Woman” (pg. 211). See Jake and Dana's stories in the Gazette.
John W. Gaines
John is a retired architect from Boerne, Texas. He is a member of the Boerne Fertile Material Writing Circle and has posted one of his stories, “Domingo: The Horse That Thinks He's Human” at Closet Writer's Liberation Camp.
John is seen here hamming it up at the Fear of Writing Christmas party, Vintage Wine Bar, Bulverde, Texas, December 9, 2005.
“The freedom part of it, for me,” John said, “is getting away from technical writing and having the chance to write something more fanciful. Also, not being critiqued on your English, spelling, formatting of paragraphs and so on. It's very therapeutic to run away from reality for a while! And humor comes naturally using the Fertile Material prompts. It even affects my other writing.
“For instance, I write the newsletter for our gun club. In satire fashion, I described the rustic conditions of our recent gun club meet—using the language of a real estate agent to make it sound 'fancy.' I wouldn't have written anything like that before Fear of Writing.”
Jennifer Turner aka J.R. Turner
This is Jennifer Turner from Stevens Point, Wisconsin with her husband Eddie and kids Dustin, Molly and Matthew. Jenny is a prolific writer and has been a popular personality with Fear of Writing regulars since 2001.
“One great thing about the Fertile Material,” Jenny said, “is that I can take a break from a longer piece (such as my novel #2) and have some real fun! Not that my regular writing isn’t fun, but I believe it’s important to stay fresh, and doing smaller projects really helps with that. But the best part about doing the Fertile Material exercises is that each story can be saved and worked on again later—either as a novel or as a short story that might be worth submitting to a magazine or writing contest.”
Since writing these comments to Milli in an email a few years ago, Jenny has skyrocketed from two books to eight, with her first published book released in Sept. 2005. Read more about Jenny on the Published FoW Authors page.
Jim Meyer
This is Jim with Milli at the 2003 Halloween party held at La Tienda Inn (Jim's B & B) by the Santa Fe Fertile Material Writing Circle. In the SF writing circle, Jim is famous for his excuses about why he can't write. One of the funniest happened this same evening, after consuming a plate full of chicken enchilada casserole: “I can't write when I'm bloated.”
Though Jim styles himself the ”Fear of Writing poster child,” despite his excuses he invariably writes something outrageous that has everyone roaring with laughter. Milli even invented a Fertile Material prompt for the sequel, Son of Fear of Writing, based on Jim's penchant for making excuses and trying to run away when it's time to write. She titled the prompt “Alibi B & B.”
Thom Ricks (self-portrait)
Thom Ricks is a successful artist in the Hill Country of Texas. His self-published book, My Magic Door at the Bear Moon Bakery, contains wonderful color and black and white sketches depicting the adventures of Tommy and his dog Hankie in the "Land of Bearly Beyond."
Thom attends the Boerne Fertile Material Writing Circle with his sketchbook. Once we've selected a Fertile Material prompt, Thom finds a sketch that quite amazingly matches the theme of the prompt and writes a story to go with his illustration. Members enjoy studying the illustration after Thom has read his story to the group.
Sandra Schairer
Sandy wanted to pose for a fun photo for her e-book, Once Upon a Blue Moon, a collection of stories based on the Fertile Material prompts. She wrote most of the stories duing sessions of the Albuquerque Fertile Material Writing Circle.
“I'm still so amazed at how the Fear of Writing method WORKS for me. I can write creatively and leave my stuffy old left brain out of it!”
—Sandy Schairer, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Daniel Ingroff
Daniel, who lives in Taos, New Mexico, was a regular member of the Taos Fertile Material Writing Circle. He delighted members with his amazingly lyrical, often funny, tales and poems written using the Fertile Material prompts.
Daniel is also a musician who plays gigs in his local area. He has mastered over 30 instruments, and is seen here with two of the many instruments he played during one of Milli's Taos workshops.
Daniel has submitted several of his Fertile Material pieces for publication in the sequel, Son of Fear of Writing.
Jayni Wilson
Jayni is seen on the left with Jorn Therkildsen, attending the 2003 Santa Fe Fear of Writing Halloween party dressed as bikers.
Jayni has participated in, and enjoyed, nearly every aspect of Fear of Writing. She attended both of Milli's workshops, took the online course twice (in 2001 and again in 2005), published an e-book anthology of her Fertile Material stories entitled Arabesque in Blue, had some of her writing published in the Fear of Writing Gazette, and is a lifetime member of the Santa Fe Fertile Material Writing Circle.
In November 2005, Jayni traveled to the Hill Country of Texas to visit Milli and meet Milli's Texas writing circle members. She was invited to a special tea party thrown by Dee Nielsen, a member of The Chicklettes (affectionate slang for the writing circle that meets at Chicki's Coffee Shop in Bulverde, Texas).
Party for Writers: Hill Country & San Antonio, Texas
Now living in Jackson, Mississippi, I miss my home back in the Hill Country of Texas. Though I lived there for only two years, I made many writing friends. The picture shows a writers' party we held over Labor Day Weekend, 2007, during a quick trip back to Texas with my husband.
Taken at Chicki's Coffee Shop in Bulverde, Texas this photo includes members of the Bulverde/Canyon Lake and the Boerne Fertile Material Writing Circles (both based in the Hill Country), as well as writers from both San Antonio and the Hill Country who've had their Fertile Material stories recorded as podcasts for Online Arts Outreach on Texas Public Radio.
This group plans to participate in my very first tele-seminar. We will use this method to communicate the joys of belonging to a Fertile Material Writing Circle to those who might like to start one in their local area.
Meet more writers who enjoy the Fear of Writing method
Return to Page Contents for "Our Mission"
Meet Writers Making Their Dreams Come True
Penelope Stowell, for starters
Penelope has been a Fear of Writing regular since April 2001. She has written dozens and dozens of stories using the Fertile Material prompts, has attended both of Milli's workshops and was a regular member of the Santa Fe Fertile Material Writing Circle before moving to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Find out how Penelope and other Fear of Writing regulars have been making their writing dreams come true at the Published FoW Authors page.
Meet more writers making their dreams come true
Return to Page Contents for "Our Mission"
Suffering Comes With the Turf
Chapter One of Fear of Writing - Milli Thornton Copyright © 1999
Is writing supposed to be fun?
Surely, it’s better to suffer. It will make our writing real—give it depth and integrity.
If we’re not going to suffer, we should at least work hard. We should be disciplined. We should think in terms of productivity. A writer’s not
going to have a career to speak of unless she’s producing at least 1,000 words per day, right? If you get right down to it, it’s really a number crunching game. Or so the rumor goes.
Every writer has a personal tale about the hardships of writing. And we all know that writing is a lonely business. Martin Myers made this kind of alienation adorably quotable when he said: “First you’re an unknown, then you write one book and you move up to obscurity.”
But this swallowing gulf is no laughing matter. As we chart our descent into the nether world of writing, honk if you know the story already.
Outside, the sun is shining and the robins are happily pulling up worms. Inside your snug little home, you’re staring into the abyss. The terror of facing that empty page is only surpassed by the numbness of your decomposing mind.
Just moments ago you were a lively specimen of resourceful humanity. Moments ago you were finding ways to speed through your chores and commitments in order to allow yourself some precious writing time. But, now that you’re seated in front of your favorite writing implements, you uncover the bleak truth. You have nothing to say. You are less inspired than the lowliest drone sorting microchips on the assembly line. You are empty. Soulless. Mere space dust inhabiting a warm body. You have no right to aspire to that auspicious title: Writer. Where did you come up with the nerve to even think it?
OK, so you’ve managed to convince your primal brain stem these negative messages are melodramatic. You are not empty. You are not a zombie from the twilight zone. While waiting in line at the drive-up bank, you even had “an idea” and now you intend to write it down. You’re no lightweight.
In fact, you have some guts and you plan to use them. How can you not be a writer? It’s in your blood. It permeates every atom of your mortal being. It reaches all the way to your higher self. Even your past lives were spent as royal scribes in Egypt or poets in Atlantis.
Triumphantly, you break those chains of oppression. You commit some tentative words to paper. One line follows another and “Voila!” you have a paragraph.
You resist the urge to reread what you’ve managed to get down. You forge ahead: One paragraph becomes two, and then three, and then five. If the dog doesn’t throw up again or the phone doesn’t ring, you may even write two pages today. You are doing it! You’re writing. You have defied the laws of emptiness. You are a god of creation.
But, the internal drag is taking its toll. Even as you defeat inertia to get those valiant words down on paper or typed onto the screen, you are faced with another self-evident truth: You are boring. Your writing would put insomniacs to sleep. You’ve seen livelier writing on the label peeling from the dank bottle of dishwashing liquid under your kitchen sink.
Yesterday you finished reading a mind-blowing novel by a twenty-three-year-old Asian author. He learned English only six months prior to writing his book. He wrote the entire book in Oriental calligraphy, using a brush and ink inherited from his great-great-grandfather, and then transcribed it into grammatically perfect English for his publisher in New York.
His prose is fluid, scintillating—nearly translucent in its candidness and lack of clutter. It’s his first book, and yet he writes with the sensitivity and depth of a literary giant. His ancestors spring to life within the pages of his book; they say some of the funniest, wisest, most memorable things you’ve ever encountered. The writerly portrayal of this intricate, exotic foreign culture renders you speechless with admiration.
The book has won awards and has found a permanent niche on the bestseller’s list. The author is under contract for three more novels. He writes blurbs for the covers of other people’s books, and his name is sheer unadulterated gold in the publishing industry. Everyone wants a talisman; everyone wants a piece of his literary magic.
Meanwhile, sunk in a private morass of shame and self-loathing, you sit in front of the mundane passage you’ve written. You reread your words and reel in shock. It’s blindingly obvious that you should give up now to save your family from the pain of watching you bomb out. Your paltry effort should be fed to the pigs for breakfast—with salt and pepper and plenty of ketchup. At least make it palatable for the pigs!
The rush of inspiration you felt in line at the bank is now in ashes on the page. You’re embarrassed that you ever bragged to your friends about being a writer. Bragging leaves you no room to exit gracefully. Bragging leaves you no pride and no way to resume a normal life. If you give up now, your friends will know what a weakling you are and they’ll never let you live it down.
Why would anyone want to suffer this way? You sit there, dripping with failure; pungent with the sweat of your fruitless labor. You remember that you go through this same horror scene every time you try to write. You always start on an innocent high, but then you degenerate into writing hell.
By the time the hounds of hell regurgitate you, you’re limp with defeat. Your skin crawls with self-revulsion. Looking up from your mundane passage, you observe the ordinary world: You can’t help but notice that your family and friends aren’t being auto-consumed by this tapeworm called writing. You long to veg out in front of the TV with the kind of serenity you see others reveling in as their birthright.
You look in the mirror and tell yourself to “get a life.” You decide to exercise at the gym whenever the urge to write strikes. You can put your nervous energy to good use at the gym instead of doing all that unhealthy introspection. Instead of agonizing like a word miser over what you have or haven’t written.
The concept “writing is fun” is ludicrous. Experience has proven it beyond a shred of doubt. Fun for others, maybe, but never for you.
Still, you are curious to see which panacea will be on offer here. You remind yourself, since you’ve given up writing to lead a healthy lifestyle, that you’ve got nothing to lose. You have no personal stake in it now. . . . Miraculously, this has killed off the hellhounds and smashed the mental blocks. You are now free to try the exercises in this book without expectation or attachment to outcome. You’re a perfect Buddha ready to give into non-judgmental acceptance.
Well, if not a Buddha then a glutton for punishment. You’ve made up your mind to try these dang exercises just to prove what you already know: Writing is a torture chamber invented specifically with you in mind.
Chapter One of Fear of Writing, Milli Thornton Copyright © 1999
Table of Contents & Index of 112 Writing Prompts
Testimonials for Fear of Writing
I really am thrilled with this new way of writing. It seems to bypass the clinical/critical mind and get right to the creativity.
—Sandy Shairer, Tijeras, New Mexico
Milli, you cannot imagine how much positive impact you have had on me, my writing, and I’m sure, tons of other people!
—Sandy Fleming, Pipe Creek, Texas
I’ve studied hundreds of books on writing. This book has proven to be the best investment ever.
—D’Arcy Mayo, Online Writing Studio, Canberra, Australia
I want you to know that this book was written for me. It’s like you can read my mind.
—Margie Wellman, Clarion, Iowa
Great writing exercises! “Fertile Material.” Nothing has set me free like these.
—Lyn Canham, Sandia Park, New Mexico
We wrote the one about discovering you’re still in your pajamas at the office. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Great fun!
—Donna K. Brown, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Wow, I was laughing out loud at some of the skeleton plots! This is great stuff! I think our readers are really going to enjoy this contest.
—Krista Barrett, editor, writergazette.com
I read “The God of Mystery” yesterday. I couldn't put it down!
—Sandy Fleming, Pipe Creek, Texas
The story “Worm Medicine,” with images I will never forget, made the point real—personal—alive and breathing. Afterwards, I went through and in a few hours fixed the corner I’d painted myself into with my novel. Woohoo!
—BJ Apostol, Santee, California
Just read your first chapter last night, and you were speaking directly to me! If my fiancee hadn't been sleeping I would have shouted, “That is SO me!” I'm sure that is SO a lot of people, and I'm not the first to tell you that, but I just had to say thanks!
—Jenn Martin, Oahu, Hawai'i
I found a big piece of myself as I read this [book excerpt]. I thank the author for her courage in writing about her fear of writing in such a provoking manner.
—Reader feedback, book excerpt at Innerself, www.innerself.com
I don't know if I ever told you, but the story about the grandfather baby-sitting his great-grandchild in Fear of Writing was one of the best short stories I have ever read.
—Sandy Schairer, Albuquerque, New Mexico (referring to “The God of Mystery”)
Even at 6:30 a.m., sans my first cup of coffee, the Chapter One excerpt made me laugh, it was so on target. I’ve got to read on so I can find out what’s going to happen to me!
—Sally McKissack-Lauck, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I’d been battling a case of writer’s block ever since the terrorist attack on September 11. Each word needed to be squeezed out of me like lemon juice, and when it hit the page it was just as sour. And then I read “Jack’s House.” Every obstacle Helen encountered, every fear she had, every thought she had, paralleled my own troubles so completely I was stunned. I had been terrified that my fiction was trivial, meaningless, and without purpose, but when I finished reading “Jack’s House” I understood what I needed to do. This was the miracle I’d been searching for. Thank you!
—Jennifer Turner, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, author of Stark Knight
The freedom part of it, for me, is getting away from technical writing and having the chance to write something more fanciful. Also, not being critiqued on your English, spelling, formatting of paragraphs and so on. It's very therapeutic to run away from reality for a while! And humor comes naturally using the Fertile Material prompts. It even affects my other writing.
—John Gaines, Boerne, Texas
Thank you! Your [book excerpt] has given me two gifts—the knowledge that others are fighting the same inner battle of writing insecurity and, more importantly, that we can laugh at these insecurities and write anyway!
—Reader feedback, book excerpt at Innerself, www.innerself.com
One great thing about the Fertile Material is that I can take a break from a longer piece (such as my novel #2) and have some real fun! Not that my regular writing isn’t fun, but I believe it’s important to stay fresh, and doing smaller projects really helps with that. But the best part about doing the Fertile Material exercises is that each story can be saved and worked on again later—either as a novel or as a short story that might be worth submitting to a magazine or writing contest.
—Jennifer Turner, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, author of Stark Knight
It really got them going. Even one student who never liked to write and usually stalled around was engaged.
—Micah Roseberry, principal, Country Day School, Taos, New Mexico, on using the Fertile Material exercises with her sixth graders
Return to Page Contents for "Our Mission"