After NaNoWriMo I happened across a literary agency that was having a contest. People were supposed to enter the first 500 words of their NaNo work and the prize was a professional critique of the work.

It sounded easy. I mean, how many other people could have come across the website and contest?

I never did find out what my odds were but no matter what they were, I didn’t win.

It’s fine.

There are other contests I haven’t won; a couple of them anyway.

I’m not dwelling on it though. Here’s why:

I don’t need a contest to validate my passion for writing. I don’t need someone else to tell me that its okay for me to write. Someone else’s opinion of my writing is based on so many factors that I don’t need to be disappointed if they don’t dig what I write. If you asked me to read some erotic, violent apocalyptic sci-fi story, I wouldn’t enjoy it. It would be hard for me to see past the details and analyze the writing for its merit. Conversely, if someone is into the aforementioned genre, it would be hard for that person to appreciate a quiet novel about four moms trying to figure out how to be friends and feed their families (yes, that’s my NaNo Work In Progress novel).

The point is, if you want to write, do it.

Don’t wait for someone else to tell you its okay for you to write.

You don’t need someone else to validate the thing that drives you to write or create.

If you want to write, do it. And do it now. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission. Don’t wait for your life to settle down or for that long-standing issue to be resolved. If you wait, it won’t happen. You won’t ever be given any more time than you have now, there’s no squeezing another hour out of 24. Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. You have something to share and even if it takes many attempts and a lot of rejection, only you can write what you can write. No one else can do it, so don’t leave the rest of us hangin’.  Go find the time and make it happen.