Interview with Brit McGinnis – Take an Honest Look at Your Life

Meet Brit McGinnis. Brit hugged her fear to write and publish her first book and today she’s sharing with us how she did it.

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m an author, specializing in new adult fiction (meaning fiction with characters going through a coming-of-age transition). But beyond that, I’m a ghostwriter and a virtual assistant. I also love horror movies and traveling.

What was one thing that you were scared to do and did anyway? And what exactly scared you about doing that one thing?

Writing my first book (and seeking a career as an author in general) was terrifying to me. I “knew” that my first book would be awful, and that I’d just be embarrassing myself by trying. Plus it wouldn’t be lucrative! What was I going to do with such an iffy career at a young age? With an uncertain path, no less!

What did you do or what happened to help you ultimately hug (accept and move through) your fear and do that thing?

Eventually I realized that even if my first book did suck, it still needed to be done if I wanted to have the life I wanted. At the time I was working most heavily in social media, which was fun but not 100% fulfilling. It took living life being afraid to do what I want to make me realize that it was worth it to face my fear.

To get through my fear, I told myself that I was going to write this book (meaning write it, edit it, and start the publishing process in some capacity) during the year of 2013. I hired an editor for the final finished work, so now I had someone expecting to see my work at a certain point in time. I also began talking openly about my book on social media—taking ownership of what I was making! Overall, when my goal (and my fear) became less private, it was easier to tackle head-on.

Are there any books, practices or other resources that helped and/or continue to help you hug your fear?

Stephen King’s On Writing was really inspirational to me because it deconstructed what the life of a writer was really like. It made the process much less mysterious, and therefore something I could imagine doing during my whole life. I also love the blog Fearful Adventurer, purely for the fact that it dealt with achieving goals in a very real way. It was nice to read about someone with anxiety (like myself) working to achieve their goals.

What would you say to someone who wanted to do something that scared them, but was struggling to take a step?

I would tell them to take an honest look at their life as it is and ask themselves if it’s what they want for the rest of their life. Despite its irrelevance to my true career, I’m actually very grateful that I worked in a tech startup for a time. It showed me exactly what I didn’t want in life, and strengthened my resolve to work toward a career I did want.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

My first book Gin and Brimstone is now available for purchase, and watch for my Maskheads series later this year!

So, that’s Brit’s story! What do you think? What things stuck out to you or inspired you to take a step towards your own dream (even if it’s not writing a book)? One thing that stuck out to me is how Brit gave her goal a timeline, sought out help and help herself accountable by telling other people. This is definitely one method I’ve seen (and used) that helps you move forward in the midst of fear.

If you want to get in touch with Brit, check her out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Until next time,

Varonica 🙂