One thing I like about writing is that it provides such a wonderful opportunity for confidential chats with readers. In the privacy of writing, and reading, we can discuss topics that are a little touchy, a bit embarrassing, and feel less alone in the process. Feeling consumed by memories from high school. Feeling wimpy. Feeling time-obsessed. Yearning for our fathers. Wishing we were taller, or shorter, or less average. To name just a few.

Willa Cather said that she write best when she stopped trying to write and began simply to remember.

I'm tempted to say that the top three reasons for hopelessness are rejection, rejection, rejection. But let's cast our net wider. 1) Not being able to write as well as we hoped we could. 2) Not being able to write at all. 3) Rejection.

Anxiety is not only an inevitable part of the writing process but a necessary part. If you’re not scared, you’re not writing.

I think that simply nudging yourself into unfamiliar settings - physical or emotional - can produce surprising results on the writing front.

Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.

Be as creative in your tactics as you are in your writing. Find what gets your engine going, no matter how peculiar it may seem to others.