Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotyzing yourself and going over the material coldly.

-Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird (p.114)

I had been to a thing. I had been given a badge. There were canapés. Young people were milling, fresh-faced and eager to learn about writing.  They asked, is it worth it? Which I took to be evidence both of knowledge that it is not easy, and an already well-developed sense of failure. I said, of course it is! You should do more of it!

I also said, don’t wait for permission to start, show your friends or your group what you are up to, and always carry a notebook. They nodded at me, politely. That’s it, I said, that is everything I know. Do I need an agent? they said. And I said, it depends. Not for poetry, no. Except if you…