Before I begin writing, I always seek inspiration to shoo me along.

That means—I pick up a book.

My go to source right now is ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING by Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite writers and a huge influence. I’m hard at work revising my book. My fabulous agents gave me a great set of notes. Goal posts, if you will. The book is becoming stronger, tighter, better right before my eyes.

That doesn’t mean each revision isn’t like wrenching out the foundation and rebuilding. That it doesn’t hurt. That it doesn’t keep me up at night, awash in anxiety. That it doesn’t haunt me during the day like a ghostly dog nipping at my heels.

But when the self-doubt surges in at high tide, I push it back. I can only ever be myself when I write. I poured my heart into this book—the world I built—the characters I dreamed up. Only by believing in myself and letting go and feeling the joy of creation can I do this thing.

Can I climb this Everest.

Can I summit.

And finally reach the sky.

This quote rocked my little world today… enjoy…

“…if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avante-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don’t even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is—excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it’d be better for his health.”

—Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing 

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