Today is the National Day on Writing, an officially-recognized initiative by the National Council of Teachers of English to “draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft.” In less than two weeks, more than 100,000 writers will put pens to paper to kick off National Novel Writing Month, a frenzied quest in which participants strive to complete a 50,000-word novel in a month.

For those of us who write for a living, these writing-designated events might give us the extra encouragement we need to start or finish a project; some good vibes from the collective creative energy of thousands of writers and other aspiring authors. Or, the events may pass with little notice — just a stream of #nanowrimo tags in the Twitterverse. For us, writing is such a part of our ingrained lives that on any given day, we’re probably writing, revising, outlining, book marketing, or handling the administrative details of a writing career. The time of “aspiring” seems foreign now; days so far in the past that we can’t recall whether we actually lived them or just read about them in a history book. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. I change my answer a lot.

I hear from many readers who aspire to write. Teens, adults, young kids, grandparents, teachers, students, librarians. They often share their fears that they’re too young / too old / too inexperienced / too boring / too insecure / too whatever to write a book or short story or screenplay or poem. I think all writers feel that way — even published ones. Even long after our first sale, again and again as we travel the loops of the writing and publication roller coaster over the course of our careers. I know I do. But the thing that’s most helped me overcome — or at least, accept and manage — those fears enough to keep me writing, to keep me trying, is… Read the rest at AuthorsNow! >>