It’s time to put yourself on the shelf, so to speak (whatever “so to speak” means), and put the Work out there. You don’t matter. The Work matters. If you want to share the Work, you have to put it into the hands of people you trust to help you fix what’s wrong, accept that what’s right is right.

In other words, chica, let it go. Trust your friends to be kind but honest. Trust them to believe in you as writer, in the Work as valuable or at least somewhat entertaining.

Trust them to help you finish because you have to finish.

Get out of your own way. Admit you have an ego and then have a talk with your ego, calm her down, tell her these people are NOT your mother and they will not purposely hurt your feelings to get you used to being criticized when you share your creative work.

(that’s right. blame your fear on your dead mother. Always works for me!)

It will be fine. Even if your trusted friends hate this project you’ve been writing for WAY too long, it will be fine. It’s work that matters and the process of writing it has led to other work that matters more. It’s all practice. Sending it out there, letting it go, that’s practice, too. Process, practice, purpose.

Take a deep breath and decide that the Work is worth sharing, and you are worth the Work.

Love,
me