Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent~Eleanor Roosevelt

The first time I walked into a Writer's Guild meeting, I felt ill at ease. Who the heck did I think I was trying to fit in with all the professional writers? When someone told me they had just finished their MFA, I smiled and nodded but had no idea what she meant.(Masters in Fine Arts degree) When someone asked if I was planning to attend a conference, I shrugged and escaped as quickly as possible. Another person asked if I'd ever read at open mike. No way! Me at a conference, talking the talk, walking the walk with real writers? Uh-huh! I had no writing degree; I wasn't a writer. I was a wannbe. I had taken a few writing classes and spent a few Saturdays at a Barnes & Noble writer's group; frankly some of their lingo baffled me.I was too shy to ask what POV meant. But they did give me positive feedback on my work and led me in the "write direction". I built my self confidence, and I began to believe, not only in my writing ability, but in myself. I took the risk; I read aloud before a writer's critique group. I attended every meeting, workshop and guest speaker event sponsored by St. Louis Writer's Guild...the rest is history. I now read at open mike events, I've been published in numerous venues and I break all the rules. I'll blog about this later. Don't let anyone tell you you can't. Don't listen to the negative self-speak. If you don't believe in YOU, no one else will either.