Today is the 15th Edition of #WritingWednesday!!!
Remember, #WritingWednesday is an EASY, STRESS-FREE, weekly writing challenge.
• Read the writing prompt below,
• Spend 5 minutes writing (in your own voice or the voice of a character you’re writing) whatever comes to mind,
• DON’T EDIT what you write! IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT!
The goal is 5 minutes of creativity.
Today I am writing in my own voice. I want you to know me… understand where I’m coming from as an author. In order to do that, I have to be able to open up and share insights into my own life. Windows into my soul. I hope you’ll do the same with me.
Today’s writing prompt:
List a few phobias you have. When and how did you discover you had these fears?
Everyone has phobias, right? I’m not alone here I’m sure.
I wouldn’t say any of my phobias are really that unique nor are they extreme.
I’m afraid of heights, acrophobia, but only when it means tumbling down something. It’s hard for me to stand at the top of a football stadium or concert arena without the fear of tumbling down the steps. On the flip side, I have stood on the edge of a tall building and rappelled down. I’ve even jumped out of a plane (5 times) without much fear. The rappelling and the parachuting were both an adrenaline rush that my younger self lived for.
I’m, embarrassingly, afraid of spiders. I suffer from a mild case of arachnophobia… I really don’t think I need to explain this one… they are gross and creepy and I just don’t like them.
“Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?” Like Indian Jones, I have Ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes I’m not sure when or why this started. I remember as a kid running around catching garden snakes. I think, as I’ve gotten older, I just realize there are more harmful things in the world that I did as a kid. One of those are the numerous poisonous snakes. I don’t like them.
Needled. Enough said, right? I’m sure I’m not alone in this one. I have aichmophobia, a fear of needles. Honestly, this is the only reason I don’t like going to the doctors or hospitals in general. This is probably my worst phobia and has plagued me since I was a young child. I don’t know when it started but I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t afraid of needles.
Much like the needle fear… I am afraid of all stinging insects, but mostly bees and wasps. That is where my spheksophobia, fear of wasps comes in. I think I look at wasps and other stinging insects as flying needles with a mind of their own. At least with a needle, I know I only have to face my fear when I go to the doctors. With spheksophobia, I have to face my fear every time I go outside in the Spring and Summer months.
© 2019 Nina Soden
* * * * *
Alright, now it’s your turn. I’d love to see what today’s writing prompt inspires in you. So, if you are willing, go to the comment section below and start typing. Take 5 minutes and let’s see what you come up with!
List a few phobias you have. When and how did you discover you had these fears?
* * * * *
Would you like more sources for daily writing prompts? Click on the links below for great writing prompt journals I think you’ll really love!
A Year of Creative Writing Prompts (Write On!)
Instantly Ignite Your Imagination with Over 900 Unique Writing Prompts!
Write More, Write Better – and Have Fun Doing It!
Writer’s Block Getting in Your Way? Destroy It, One Amazing Prompt at a Time!
Prompt Me: Creative Writing Journal & Workbook (Prompt Me Series)
A large variety of creative writing prompts for maximum inspiration.
Photo Prompts, Story Starters, Fill-In the Blank, Dialogue Prompts, Self-Discovery Topics, Use This Phrase, Chart It, And more!
Plus valuable reference resources and master lists.
This collection of 642 outrageous and witty writing prompts will get the creative juices flowing in no time. From crafting your own obituary to penning an ode to an onion, each page of this playful journal invites inspiration and provides plenty of space to write. Brimming with entertaining exercises from the literary minds of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, this is the ultimate gift for scribes of every stripe.
Are you working on a manuscript, but need a little help getting organized? Check out SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ~ An Indie Author Guide to Outlining and Planning Your Next Novel
Want help meeting your writing goals? Check out JUST WRITE: The Ultimate Author’s Bullet Journal
Nina Soden 
A phobia? I’m not quite sure what qualifies for a phobia. I don’t have many fears anymore, but maybe as a child the strange aliens were frightening enough. Phobias just get in the way of work, you just have to steel your mind, and get the job done as quickly as possible. There’s not any leniancy for those who slack for their fear.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re writing in the voice of one of your current characters, yes? Which one?
LikeLike
Today, I am taking cue from Nina and writing in my own voice.
I really don’t have a lot of phobias. Yes, I fear many things, but there are very few things I have intense fear of. Teeth is the first one. It’s not so much they scare me, but they definitely freak me out. Odontophobia can have many causes but I am certain I know what causes mine. When I was in seventh grade, I had to have baby teeth pulled. I had to stay awake during the whole procedure and I still vividly remember the sound the teeth made when the dentist broke the nerves and pulled them out.
I am a planner, I always have been and I suspect I always will be. This is why I have xenophobia, the fear of the unknown. I always like to have whatever I’m doing planned down to the minute and I follow that schedule exactly. That is why the unknown scares me so badly because I never really know if what I have planned is going to go how I want.
I am scared of the dark, there I said it. I am not ashamed to admit that I am 16 and still have a night light in my bedroom. Nyctophobia is very common but I think my fear comes more from not knowing what is in the dark more so than being scared of the dark itself. Yes, darkness does frighten me because it can be so dang ominous, but I think most of my fear of it comes from my xenophobia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this… The honesty is beautiful. Now, I want you to use your fears in your writing. Your characters can gain great strength through the fears you, as an author, experience.
LikeLike