Don't Read This Post

"I don't know where to start."

"I need more books on 'craft.'"

"What will my marketing strategy be?"

"I need a Bachelor's before I can really be a writer."

"I'm too young to write that story."

"I need a Master's before I can really be a writer."

"I'll start my novel as soon as I find a mint condition vintage Underwood typewriter for under $100."

"But how will I know when it's ok to start my sentences with conjunctions?"

"I need a Doctorate, a publishing deal, and a tenured position at a widely respected MFA program before I can really be a writer."

There are always 100 more things to learn before you can start to write. There are 1000 things to do first, 10,000 questions that need to be answered, 100,000 books that need to be read. And that's all good, you can do that, you can ask those questions and read those books and go to school and make yourself a sandwich and read blogs with advice.

But not today.

Today, you just have to write.

Just put one word in front of another until they form some kind of chain, and pause a moment, and then stop. And start again.

You aren't too young, or too old, or too uneducated, or too educated. 

You know enough.

Write.