Saturday, October 3, 2009  Dammit, Skywalker, Look Inside
Yourself  And trust yourself. That's what I would tell Luke if I
were Yoda. Or anyone's mentor, for that matter. I have been
barraged lately by would-be writers coming to me or other
authors or editors or agents, looking for validation. Or who
have been crushed by something that a critique partner told
them. Or who have posted sadly about giving up on any of the
forums I occasionally poke my head into.  All of them ask the
same sort of questions. They sound like so:  - should I be
writing? - will I ever be good enough? - is this what I really
ought to be doing? - are they right when they say I should do
something else? - is it too hard to do this? - is it time to
give up? - is it worth it?  All great questions. And you know
the only person who can answer these questions for you?   No,
I'm kidding. You. You're the only one who can answer these
questions. You can ask other people these questions, of course,
and everyone will answer you, usually with some