Submitting writing for people to see is incredibly difficult.

Aside from writing for Odyssey, I write on a blog, write fanfiction, write fantasy campaigns for friends. Writing is a huge part of my life; however, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near where I am without creating, and as someone who struggled (and still does, to an extent) with social anxiety, it can be incredibly difficult. Trust me, I know that. However, I want to remind all of you who are considering putting yourself and your work out there, or even just considering creating something:

It's not about perfection, it's about creating something.

Sure, when I write for Odyssey, my work has to go through a couple of editors, but for my personal life, aside from my beta readers, I'm my only editor. I can put whatever I want out for people to read. And at times, that's incredibly scary. But I force myself to remember, even when I write things that aren't posted, that I am, in fact, creating something. I'm bringing something into this world that wasn't there before, and that's beautiful.

Creating more things is what helps you grow as a writer. It's so much better to continue to create things, some of which might not even be good, than to sit and never create for fear that you'll be "bad" at it or that you won't be able to match the quality of [insert favorite author here]. Practice is the only way to improve, and trust me, every author looks back at their old work and cringes. I've done it with so many of the things that I wrote. Some things I write, I'm proud of, others I'm less so. But I appreciate all of them because each of them, in a way, are a step to me becoming better.

Some people say that quality will always trump quantity, but these people fail to take into account that quantity begets quality within art. Trust me, none of your favorite artists created an incredible work the first time around. No author's first work (and no, I don't mean first book, I mean the first thing they ever wrote) was perfect, no painter's first piece was the work of a master. Everyone takes time to become the wonder that they are, and it takes lots and lots of failures. So what if you write something and hate it? You can just look back on it later to see how far you've come. Even that creation is practice. Consider it a stepping stone to better places.

So to all of you who want to write but are afraid to, all I have to say is: go out and create. You might not win a Pulitzer, but you'll be one step closer to success.