Harlan Ellison Quotes

When it comes time to sit down and write the next book, you're deathly afraid that you're not up to the task. That was certainly the case with me after Snow Falling on Cedars.

I, for one, find writing excruciating. Some mornings, as I'm on my way to my desk, my hands actually tremble with fear. The fear, of course, is that I'll sit down at the desk and discover that what I've written is claptrap. Fear inevitably leads to procrastination.

To write fiction is to think that you're doing it wrong - that your work habits are inhibiting you; that you've chosen the wrong subject; that you've chosen the right subject, but that someone else has, unbeknownst to you, already written exactly the book you're laboring over.

Despite my career, so much of my life has been dictated by what I'm afraid of: fear that I am not talented. Fear that people will finally realize that I am a boring individual who doesn't have many ambitions beyond starting a family 'at a good time' in life.

With fear come the lies and the justifications that, no matter how convincing, lower our self-esteem.

Underneath the stress is fear, and the biggest is our own personal fear of failure.

I have a couple of what I call "buttons" - fears or anxieties that when tweaked can cause me to be vulnerable. Fear of failure, not being good enough, and abandonment are my main buttons. However, they have diminished greatly over the years as I have really confronted those fears in order to work through them.

I hope people don't get tired of looking at me.

I think every writer doubts themselves, every day. You procrastinate because you're afraid. You're always afraid it's not going to be as good as you want it to be. But, the key is overcoming fear.

I've always been insecure about my singing. That's why I've focused so much on my songwriting.

I think you're not a human being unless you have doubts and fears.

I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me.

Insecurity is just something that's there all the time. I've never been crippled by it.

I'd be far too self-conscious and insecure if I suspected my editor might be a better novelist than I.

Even at age 10, I already knew that I was different from most people. My anxiety disorder was still years from being diagnosed, but it affected me quite deeply. I was too afraid to speak out in class, too nervous to make real friends.

I grew up doubting myself. It was a very spotty, frustrating, worrying time.

I'm insecure about things. I'm not afraid to say it, though. Even when my publicist is like, 'Go on the red carpet,' I don't wanna go.

Writers displace their anxiety on to the tools of the trade. It's better to say that you haven't got the right pencil than to say you can't write, or to blame your computer for losing your chapter than face up to your feeling that it's better lost.

The thing that helped me come to terms with performing was an anxiety, a desperation for acceptance. There was never enough positive motivation in my life.

I grew up very insecure. From the time I was little I used to hide under my mother's dress.

When I was younger, I used to be super, super shy. I still find myself being scared of things.

Some days I totally appreciate everything that's happening to me, and some days I feel everyone's waiting for me to mess up.

I don't know why I'm saying I'm brave.

I've always been a bit of a self-doubter. I think a lot of actors are.

I find it's usually the bullies who are the most insecure.