If you don’t believe in what you are saying, there is no point in your saying it. You might as well call it a day and go bowling. - Anne Lamott

And my fear of failure has been lifelong and deep. If you are what you do- and I think my parents may have accidentally given me this idea- and you do poorly, what then? It’s over; you’re wiped out. All those prophecies you heard in the dark have come true, and people can see the real you, see what a schmendrick you are, what a fraud.

But you can't teach writing, people tell me. And I say, 'Who the hell are you, God's dean of admissions?

Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you are getting to know better every day, something is bound to happen.