Can you make a list of good things writing does for you? How it makes you feel? A short list for me, for example, would be: • Helps me clarify my thoughts and feelings • Keeps me company when I feel bored or alone • Gives me a sense of accomplishment when I finish a project, or even just for the day Look at your list. Do you want to lose access to all those positive things? Make your writing about no one else but yourself. Do not write for an imagined audience. Do not write for a distant panel of judges. When you sit down to write, every day, announce to yourself something like (but less corny, obviously), “I am writing this for the love of writing.” You could even put it on the top of the page. You could even write it 100 times in a row. Until you believe it again.
Jami Attenberg








