What happens when you trust your curiosity more than your fear?
Writers: it’s time to let go of your fears and get curious instead. Keep reading to see how and why, then leave a comment to join this dialogue. And scroll down to see today’s Flash Fiction prompt.
We often presume that bravery is the opposite of fear, and that fear is something to be vanquished or conquered or subdued by force or violence. But what if that isn’t the case and we’ve gotten it wrong all along? What if fear isn’t something we need to defeat, and its opposite isn’t something we need to force but welcome instead?
“Psychologists define fear as a protective, primal emotion that evokes a biochemical and emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological.”
…
“Fear is both a natural emotion and a survival mechanism. When confronted with a perceived threat, the body responds in specific ways.”
(The Psychology of Fear by Lisa Fritscher. verywellmind.com. 10.26.2025)
Essentially, fear tells us what we want to protect, what we value, whether it’s tangible or more abstract. And knowing what we value is a good thing. Reacting or responding in harmful, misguided, or misaligned ways to what we fear or what triggers fear within us regarding what we value, however, is not.
So, how can we ensure we don’t respond to our fears in harmful, misguided, or misaligned ways, as both writers and humans? We embrace curiosity.
Curiosity acts as a natural cognitive reframing tool for fear because it shifts the brain out of threat-avoidance mode (activated by the amygdala) and into exploration mode, which triggers the brain’s dopaminergic reward system (the motivation and pleasure pathway) and regions responsible for memory and information processing. By transforming “What if this goes wrong?” into “I wonder what will happen?”, we stop emphasizing fear-based emotions and reactions and begin to treat the unknown as an opportunity for discovery instead— essentially, we get more creative and are also able to avoid writer’s block.
Despite common misconceptions, asking questions about the unknown (which curiosity requires) is never fruitless. On the contrary, we can never learn anything or discover anything new (innovate) if we aren’t exploring the unknown by following trails of inquiry for which we do not yet have clearly defined paths or answers. Curiosity, in other words, ensures our minds are as nimble as they are stable because it requires us to constantly negotiate what we know with what we don’t know, unlike fear, which is often ignited by mere perceptions alone.
“The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” — often attributed to Socrates
Fear (especially the kind based on intangible and abstract thoughts) without cognitive reframing will inevitably narrow your attention, locking your brain in a stress loop, which will only make you feel more anxious, along with a plethora of other misguided and misaligned emotions that work to reinforce the stress loop. Curiosity, however, reverses that fear-based stress loop psychologically and biologically by priming the brain to learn and explore and seek rewards instead of activating it to only avoid perceived threats.
The language you and I use in everyday life is at the center of turning our fears into acts of exploration and discovery. Leveraging language intentionally is critical to manifesting the writing lifestyles we want to lead, the types of writers we want to be, and the work we want to write.
Every day, try to ask yourself questions like: Why am I writing this? Who is my audience, what do they care about, and how can I best reach them? What am I trying to convey and why? What will my characters do today? What will my characters teach me today? What did my last editing session teach me? What is the most interesting, unusual, or out-of-place thing I saw or heard today? Whose perspective have I completely ignored or misunderstood today? What is one assumption I am making right now that I should actively try to challenge? What am I currently avoiding writing about, and why? What made me feel genuinely curious or surprised today, and how can I leverage that in what I write? If I had to turn today into a fictional scene, what would be the main conflict? What is a question I don’t know the answer to, and where can I research it to inspire a new plot or article? Etc.
If you want to write about something that inspires awe, get curious about the people and the world around you by asking questions about them. Learn about what is awe-inspiring, become inspired, then write something inspiring.
If you want to be a more creative writer, get curious about what other creative writers are writing, or have written, to learn more about what you want to emulate and include in your own writing in your own creative way. Learn about what other creative writers do and how they do it. Learn about their creative writing techniques, then practice them to see what sticks with you and your writing. (This is why I always say prolific writers are also prolific readers. Reading as much as you write gives you a consistent creative well to pull from.)
If you want to use your writing as a way to connect with others, get curious about what matters to others and why and use that to guide your writing. Learn about how you can use your words to connect with others based on what resonates with them, and you, in the real world.
If you want to avoid writer’s block, adopt a curious mindset.
“Writers often think they need to have everything perfectly sorted out and arranged in their minds before they sit down and start typing, which is a mistake. Because then, as a writer, you’ll never really feel ‘ready’ to start writing. You’ll just keep thinking about and analyzing (and feel guilty about) what you never actually write, which will keep you discouraged from writing. And who has the time, or the patience, for that kind of torture?
The best way to keep a daily writing habit and avoid writer’s block altogether is by incorporating a curious mindset into your writing process. How? By asking questions about what you’re writing as you’re writing: Who? What? Where? When? Why? And how? And by asking these questions repeatedly as you write without harsh judgment. There are no perfect answers, but answers that fine-tune your writing, and keep you writing.
For example, while you’re writing you could ask things like: Why would my character do that? Who is instigating the conflict in this scene? Where is this happening? What facts and data would make this statement in my article stronger? Etc.”
(Two Simple Ways to Avoid Writer’s Block by K.E. Creighton)
Bottom line, when you trust your curiosity more than your fear, you’ll be able to rid yourself of fixed, negative doom spirals that keep you stuck in visions of perfectionism, regret, and doubt, which means you’ll be less anxious. And when you’re less anxious, you’ll be less self-absorbed and worried about defending yourself and more attuned to the world and the people around you, which will in turn make you more observant and empathetic and resilient and smarter and creative and … will in turn make you a much better writer. Perhaps even a happier, more accomplished writer to boot.
Not convinced? Try using your fears as opportunities for exploration and discovery in your writing for the next week or so and see what happens. And keep us posted!
[Additional sources included at the bottom of this post: 12345]
© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.
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You may also enjoy:
4 Surprising Benefits of Curiosity by Jeff Wetzler Ed.D. Psychology Today. 12.12.2024
How curiosity rewires your brain for change by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. BigThink. 5.12.2025
The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity by Celeste Kidd and Benjamin Y Hayden. 2015. Pulled from National Library of Medicine 2026
The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity by Justin James Kennedy, D.Prof. Psychology Today. 11.3.2023
Turn Anxiety into Curiosity by Dr. David R Hamilton. 3.25.2026