The Words I’m Afraid to Write Are Exactly the Words I Must Publish

I kept a journal while I was writing “Blank Canvas.”

I created it out of necessity.

There were countless times when I couldn’t find the words, and my raging insecurity and overwhelming ineptitude stopped me in my tracks.

I was putting too much pressure on the chapter; I was making it too important.

Creativity thrives in healthy pressure; I was doing the opposite.

My writing was wrong; therefore, I was wrong.

My intuition chimed in and told me to create a new folder called “Journal.”

At first, I struggled here, too; the pressure was still there. So I journaled on the pressure I was putting on myself.

To make it right, to make it perfect, to be as good as so and so.

The value of this folder was immeasurable, and I visited it often.

I’d write the things I was afraid to write in the “real” book and explore parts of me that I didn’t want anyone to see.

If I get it all out in my nice and safe journal, then I can clear the way to write the chapters I want to write.

The journal made 3.5 years of writing every single day possible.