I love to write. Love it! Why, then, do I put it off, finding a million things to do rather than finish that project?

That’s easy to answer. There are two reasons I can think of. The first is that my attempt to finish the piece may not work and then I will have FAILED. And then it’s just as scary to actually finish a piece, because then I have to do something more with it. I have to find it a home, and that means that old bugaboo, rejection. Again, I will have FAILED?

Now, every successful writer has lots of rejections letters, right? I mean, you know that, don’t you? All of them, yes. I was reminded of this very dramatically a few years ago when I went to see a very well-known and well-awarded writer I know, and found her in tears because her agent and editor had not liked her latest novel draft and had both insisted it must be drastically changed to even be considered. If this famous writer had such rejection, what hope was there for me?

Okay, so our efforts might not pay off. Our ideas might not pan out, and, even if they do, maybe no one else will like the piece as much as we do. Yep. But you know what happens if we keep putting it off, don’t you?

We don’t finish, we don’t get published, and then we will have FAILED.

So you know what I say? I say, spend your time writing because you love it, because it gives you joy to do the work, because you can’t help yourself. Take every ideas fearlessly to the hilt, and then try and share it. No matter what, you will have spent time doing what you love and you MIGHT have a chance to share it with the world.

So why not write with me today, and leave me a little note in the comments below to let me know what you’re working on. Then, afterwards, tell us how it went and we’ll all do a little happy dance together, because

WE DID IT!

Stuck for what to do next? Here’s an idea for you, below. Use it as a prompt, and if it pans out, why not give this contest a whirl?

2015 NANO Prize
The seventh-annual NANO Prize, awarding publication and $1,000 to a previously unpublished work of fiction 300 words or fewer, opened on April 1, and will be judged by Amber Sparks! All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to NANO Fiction and winners will be announced in mid-September.

Rules and Guidelines: All entries must be unpublished and 300 words or fewer. While there will be only one winner of the contest, all submitted pieces will be considered for publication.

The entry fee is $20 for up to three shorts. Please paste all three works into the submission manager as one submission. You may enter as many times as you like. Each separate entry requires its own entry fee of $20. Entry fees are nonrefundable. Please withdraw your submission immediately if taken elsewhere.

The entrant’s name should not appear anywhere in the body of the submission.

Friends and family of the editors are not eligible to submit.

Go to the website below to submit.

Deadline: September 1, 2015. http://nanofiction.org/submit