The more you write, the better you will write! So - keep at it!
The past is always with us, for it feeds the present.
When I write I just keep a waste paper basket handy in case I am experiencing a block.
I was nostalgic even as a young man. Preferred listening to Opera not Bing Crossby.
I am a storyteller from a personal viewpoint. When I run out of people I invent ghosts. I don't believe in ghosts. Never saw one.
When you write a novel you have to live with the characters for a long time. So I prefer short stories. I never wrote anything more than 250 pages.