Fate is said to be a cruel mistress, and while that may be the case, I find writing to be the truly sadistic of the two. Without repetition and without practice, it will convince you otherwise; falsely building confidence and convincing yourself of greatness that you may not have. You must take the tide when it comes and when it comes for me, with great effort and greater encouragement; I moved forward – ignoring all apprehension. In the summer of 2003, an unprecedented opportunity presented itself: to revisit and critique a cornerstone of my youth, video games. Like many stories before mine, it was hard work and tenacity that took me from online to print and traveling coast to coast. My literacy skills helped me tame this personal demon to achieve published and then cited status, because it meant I had overcome the fear of writing and the worry of others reading what I had written and helped me externalize my internal speech. Formal education could only take me so far, it was the experiences along the way and in life that built the confidence to temper the fear I felt while writing. As I write, my inner voice serves as both critic and supporter, and it is this dichotomy that becomes the source of my fear of writing; “It’s perfect…”, leads to “just one more revision”, and finally landing on “this will never work, start again”. As a writer, I must learn to look outside of myself and apply my thinking critically. Is it perfect? Have I stated my arguments, defended them and defined them? Or Does it really need further revision, and if so, why? By putting myself in the mindset of my audience, I can begin to overcome these fears and find the voice that wants to be written about. To work towards my next big source of u...... middle of paper ...... someone else would pay money to read what I had written and reprint it so that others can read it too. With this article, I knew that, for me, writing was more about conveying my emotions and experiences in simple but defining prose than about stringing together a clever flow of synonyms. From a certain perspective, I can see myself as the cruel mistress. . I will never find a harsher critic than myself and it is this realization that ultimately guides me in the writing process. Sure, others might destroy my style and flow, but as long as I feel like I've made my point clearly and concisely, in a way that I'm happy with, I've done my work. I've always considered writing an art – subjective – so who should I fear but myself? It is my continued writing that has helped me overcome fear in the past and continues to help me overcome it in the future..