Many writers want to write about themselves. “I experienced (fill in the blank) and I believe the world needs to learn from my experience.” The problem is, unless you can write it like a novel, or write it cinematically, it’s just words on a page. Converting real emotion into words on a page is not as easy as it sounds.

The truth is everybody has a story. Everybody. Nobody wants to read it, though, unless it is written beautifully. It doesn’t matter how incredible it is. It doesn’t matter the hurdles you overcame. If you cannot create a wonderfully written tale with marvelous prose, it isn’t a story worth reading.

Have a story? Great. Do you know how to write well? Are you sure? That’s where you start. Not how to publish. Not how to sell it. Thoughts on paper are one thing. The right words in the right order is something altogether different.

Work hard learning how to write wonderfully. Very hard. Writing isn’t a race. And it isn’t about you and what you endured. It’s about pleasing the reader.