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Hey Reader,

Have you ever ruined a perfect moment by screaming at it?

I have. Just last week in fact.

I was swimming out of the Witches’ Cauldron sea cave on the Pembrokeshire coast with Joe and my friends, when a seal popped its head up a few metres behind us to watch.

My reaction?

To scream like a twat and accelerate out of there.

To be fair, the seal wasn’t fazed at all. It just bobbed there and watched us weird bipedals flounder around inefficiently.

But as I climbed out, I cursed myself because how many people get the chance to swim with a seal in the wild?

Hardly any.

But me? My mind went straight to THAT’S A SEA MONSTER WHAT IF IT EATS US and made me doggy paddle away at my top speed, which is very slow.

Look, in my defence, I’m not a particularly strong swimmer. I nearly drowned in the sea as a toddler and I still have the odd nightmare about it. So I’m an absolute jellyfish out there, and not the capable graceful kind, the kind that washes up on the beach and rots quietly.

BUT I ADORE THE SEA.

I adore swimming in it. I don’t mind seaweed swirling around my legs and I’m happy for fish to nibble my toes and I enjoy a gentle wave.

I’m newly obsessed with surfing, too.

So how to stop my panic reactions?

The only way I know to stop screaming at seals is to get out there more often and swim with them. Or, at least, be delighted when they pop up instead of freaking out.

Right?

Right.

Same with my writing.

I get scared all the time of putting my work out there, in case a seal eats me. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

What if someone reads it and thinks it’s shite?

What if they read it and hate me?

WHAT IF IT’S TERRIBLE?

Well… what if it is?

The only way we get past this is to do it. Then do it again, and again.

Get feedback, from readers and from mentors.

Realise that some of what we write will be shite, people will dislike it, they might even dislike us.

And that’s okay.

Go swimming, remember the seals are a beautiful privilege, and that monsters mostly only exist in our heads.

Write and put it out there, remember having readers is a beautiful privilege, and that haters mostly only exist in our heads. And the ones who are real, well, why do they matter?

The Creative Playground is a great place to get comfy writing, and I have five new spots open for the summer.

Two of them have gone.

Would you like one of the three remaining? You can try us out for just ONE POUND for the first 7 days, and stick around if you like it here.

TTFN,

Vicky