Begin

Don’t wait. There will never be a time better than now because every time to come will be exactly the same. The weather may be different, your mood may be different, your bank account may be different, but the moment will be unchanged. The volume of opportunities and potential will be the same. Creation’s canvas is always directly in front of us, nowhere else, and the portal to inspiration keeps no hours. It’s always open. So don’t wait. Creation is already underway. Go join it.

Nothing and no one will save you. Friends will accompany you on your way, will offer advice and comfort, may offer shelter and aid, but they cannot save you any more than they could write your book for you. You were born intact and ready and unbreakable. Your grief is merely a consequence of thinking you are anything less than this, a belief intolerable to the creative soul. Be a friend to yourself now, and begin agreeing with the curious, happy, hopeful, loving artist residing within you.

Everything around you will change. It will change whether you think it should or not, whether you believe you’re ready for it or not. Those changes always matter less than they first appear. The boat you captain is built to sail in both calm and stormy waters. No wave can sink it. Watch the stars that guide you, and don’t worry if no one else can see them, if they call you mad for following such distant lights. Everyone is following their own.

So don’t wait. You aren’t unlucky. You’re not too old or too young. You don’t have to know the right people. There’s no club you need to join, no handshake you need to learn, no app you need to download. There’s no one better than you and there’s nothing you need to prove. No one actually cares whether you succeed or fail. Begin. The page accepts any story except the one that you aren’t good enough.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com