3 Tips for Getting Past Your Fears

Last week I attended the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in North Carolina. Before the conference I paid for a critique of my non-fiction book proposal by an agent I would meet there. At the conference I was able to make appointments with two additional agents to pitch my book and sat at dinner right next to another.

Let’s just say there were amply opportunities to exercise my courage.

What does it take to laugh in the face of fear? Here are 3 tips for getting past your fears:

1. Name Your Fears
Jim Watkins led the conference with the keynote speech Sunday night. He gave a hilarious retelling of the David versus Goliath story using writers for David and editors, agents, and publishers in place of Goliath.

Sometimes I make my fears seven feet tall and armed. Just naming my fears for the conference shrinks them down in size a little. Realizing I make my fears giants in my life helps me also face this truth: I am not alone.

When I stand shaking in front of my fears they fill my vision. Naming them for what they are allows me to take a step back. I may be small in the writing industry. I may only have a few tools with which to work at this point. But the God of the universe has called me: Chosen, Holy, and Beloved. (Colossians 3:12 NAB) Not because of my greatness but because of His.

2. Focus on God’s call for your life.

(Proverbs 31:25 NAB) “She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.” I can’t yet manage to not be afraid during a book pitch, what is essentially a job interview, but I can take steps to minimize the anxiety I feel by focusing on the source of my strength and calling. My worth is not dependent on landing an agent or winning a book contract. When I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, my fear falls away into the background.

3. Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses.

It would be easy to sit in an interview with say, Bob Hostetler, who has written more than 50 books and let the magnitude of my newness loom as large as his book sales. I am a newer writer, no hiding it. My first appointment of the conference with a different agent where I focused on my amateur writing status was beyond awkward, and I knew I hadn’t put my best foot forward. No surprise when the agent didn’t ask for my proposal or a sample of my work.

After that I leaned into God’s call on my life to be a communicator. I focused on my strengths as a speaker and my hunger to reach out to the millennial generation. The next time I had an agent appointment I was more relaxed and came across better. And guess what? He asked for my book proposal. At dinner that night I sat next to an agent whose blog I had cyber-stalked for years and I was relaxed enough to laugh. She asked for my book proposal. The next day’s appointment went well too. And she asked for my proposal.


Those meetings may never result in those agent’s signing me, but I’m proud of myself. I didn’t let me fears stop me from stepping up.

What are you afraid of? Do you have tricks for getting past your fears?