I am subscribed to receive writing tips from favourite writer, Holly Lisle. In one of her tips she says: ‘If you can be convinced to stop writing, then stop writing,’ she talks about how difficult it is to make it as a published author, and if this can convince you to quit, then perhaps you don’t have what it takes to be a writer.

I know I can’t be convinced to quit. I struggle through self doubt often and I’ve had negative people try to bring me down. There’s a question you can ask yourself to see if you really are a writer is:

Would you still write if no one will read it? 

Can you write only for yourself? Would you write knowing no one else would read it let alone pay for it?

For me, I often write just for me. I love spilling my mind onto the page and allow myself to write rubbish sometimes. I keep several notebooks just for this. It’s like a therapy for me.

Those who can’t be convinced to quit, Lisle describes as ‘the few, the proud, and the crazy.’ I feel like I’m becoming increasingly more ‘crazy’ as I get older but this is down to caring less what other people think of me.

There’s too many stories in my mind wanting to be written, and I’m taking this journey one step at a time.