Intensivesophobia

I found a new word today. Metathesiophobia. Even my spell-checker doesn’t recognise it, so if you do, I’m impressed. What does it mean? “Fear of Change”

Not just a normal fear of change, but one that is irrational and excessive and prevents a person living a quality life. To some extent, we all have a fear of change. I believe it comes from a fear of feeling out of control.

Am I allowed to make up a new word? In good faith that none of you have metathesiophobia I will take a leap and do it. Here it is:

Editophobia: “Fear of external input into your manuscript or current writing project”.

This refers to the people who fear changing their manuscripts; who fear critique and loss of control. And the consequences are that it prevents the person publishing a full, quality, life-giving manuscript in God’s control and not their own.

I’ve had editophobia, and none of my books were published until God took them from my hands, placed them in the hands of a very good editor and brought more than my own filtered mind and experience to the manuscript.

Now another word for you: Intensivesophobia. Yes, I just made it up in the hope that you might discover you have it, decide to fight it, and put your name down for the Intensives at the Christian Writers’ Conference in October this year.

I attended an ‘Intensive’ day with an author/editor a few years back. I arrived on the day with an expectant but cautious heart to be sat in a room with two other writers and my tutor. I was handed a flash drive to put into my laptop, which had changes to the manuscript I had forwarded to my tutor 6 weeks earlier. By the end of the day I had made very special new friends, I had learned to use track changes on my computer (I previously had technophobia), I had learned many new skills and knew how to make my manuscript publishable. Eager and inspired by my tutor, who had been coaching me through editing the whole day, I went home and cut, pasted and changed without fear until my manuscript was ready. Blaze in the Storm is now published and God has used it to change lives.

Why? Because He put it on my heart that it was okay to CHANGE it. It was okay to have someone else come alongside and edit. In fact it was NECESSARY!

If you are thinking about the Intensives on the Friday of the Christian Writers’ Conference this year I cannot encourage you enough to actually register and do it. To register, go to:

www.christianwritersconference.org.au/Intensives

If you are unable to attend on the Friday, there are also opportunities for 30 minute appointments with an editor during the actual conference. Appointment request forms are available on the Costing page of our website.

www.christianwritersconference.org.au/costingdetails

Let us not fear change and loss of control, but rather, fear our own limited knowledge and inability to change, which hinders the work of God in our lives, making Him unable to use us for His glory. Our God is all about change, renewal, rebirth and growth.

*****

Jenny is the wife of Rob Glazebrook and the mother of Micah, Merridy, Clarity and Amelia. They live in the country town of Gundagai with lots of pets. Jenny is the author of 5 published novels with the final 2 of her Aussie Sky Series due out this year. Jenny enjoys inspirational speaking, and is passionate about sharing her writing knowledge and experience and encouraging others in their walk with Jesus. To find out more about her and her books, go to www.jennyglazebrook.com