Hi Nicole, it would be great if you did a piece on how to start a blog—especially on WordPress. I have been thinking of doing something like that but have no knowledge in how to do so. just a thought—I learn so much and am encouraged from your blog.

Well said and I too agree writing can, with practice, becomes easier and a joy. More writing does build confidence in self. My career in the art of writing was when I enrolled in a Creative Writing Class at a Junior college, at age 70. I had done work related writing, most charts and such as I worked Personnel and Budget authorizations. I was praised for getting result thru my writing. I was scared to death—older then even the instructor and my first effort to be judged by the young people. The Final Exam was to complete a 8 to 10 page short story, applying all I learned, with proper grammar and punctuation. The instruction was ‘write what you know’. So, I started at the beginning of the semester and I got through my fear by writing a story to my satisfaction—writing as best I could as if telling a friend. let it rest a few days and thought myself through. I then took, the final piece of instructor advice; read it out loud to self and/or to a friend. When I read it out loud to myself, I was amazed at some of the ‘confusion’, and retelling I found in an eight to ten typed page story. You guessed it, I had to do some rewrite—read it out loud later and I was through. Received much encouragement when the paper was returned with a red A+. I enrolled in the advance creative class and here I had to write a short , prompted story and read to the class. The critiques received form these young students was invaluable. The first time, the class laughed, I was so emotional with fear, the instructor had to finish the read — the students were told to do critiques on a piece of paper and give to each reader so that more people would be able to read. Surprised, the students were overwhelming accepting of my story and I had actually been funny in places –thankfully they pointed them out in their critique. I tend to use dialogue to move my stories and I had spelled it as a southerner would say it, such as “haid” for head, ‘awright’ for alright, and leaving the ”ing’ and the ‘r’ out of lots of the pronouncements. This convinced me in order to get over my fear, just write ‘what I know’, for myself first. The fact that I practice reading and writing, and rewrite has helped me to gain confidence… the writer groups were a big help also. For me reading out loud and getting feed back is a great motivator for riding one of fear and gaining confidence in your talent/ability. Thank you and all the commenters [is that a word?—smile] for very good information and encouragement for all writers!!!

If you need help setting up a blog on WordPress, let me know. 🙂 I’ve actually been thinking about writing a post that would walk through how to set one up. I’d love to read your blog if you started one! 😀

Thanks for your kind comments, Nicole. I enjoy writing my little pieces for Instagram, but sometimes it doesn’t seem enough. Might be a sign I need to do more. Also IG is primarily about images, and not too many people are interested in a lengthy caption. I am thinking I should start a blog or something along those lines. My problem is I’m really hopeless with technology, but I’m looking into starting with WordPress. Thanks again for your blog. I’ve learned a lot from it.

Hi, Cynthia! Thank you so much for your kind words. 🙂

Yes, I too am glad Steinbeck didn’t give up. I hope he eventually came to realize what an amazing writer he truly was.

I can sympathize with you about the college essays. I stressed out so much in college trying to write a “perfect” paper every time. Thankfully, I feel like now I am slowly but surely overcoming my perfectionism, mostly by setting myself deadlines. 😉

Please write more! 🙂 I love your Instagram. You have so many wonderful thoughts to share, and you are such a great writer too.

Thank you so much for reading, Jeana! So happy to hear this post spoke to you. I too have found Steinbeck’s thoughts so encouraging as I work on my own creative writing projects. I struggle with fear as well — one of the reasons I wanted to write this post. All the best with your WIP! Cheering you on! 😀

Hi, Nadia! 🙂 Thank you so much for your comment! I love your mantra — so much truth in that. Yes, I find it comforting too that even the best writers struggled with fear. Just goes to show that they’re human. It is sad that Steinbeck faced such self-doubt over his writing. I hope he eventually realized how fantastic of a writer he was.