On Writing (and procrastinating)

My friend Leslie has written about the need to have an agent. She writes fiction and is hoping for that big sell that will propel her forward into the realm of "published novelist."

I write nonfiction. I write a *lot* of nonfiction, actually. I average about 250 articles a year, and have for several years. My markets are local, though, and I don't need an agent for that.

However, tucked away in a drawer is a book or three. Half-written and half-formulated in some cases, my stories are just waiting on me to return to them, set them right, and send them off.

But my fears keep me from taking those steps. I don't know why I am afraid, but I am. I am afraid of failing, and of succeeding! How's that for a state of inertia? If I don't do it, I chastise myself. If I do it, I chastise myself! Talk about no-win!

I have challenged myself to work on these stories, but still, I procrastinate and find other things to do. The laundry. Painting the bathroom. Cleaning out the junk drawer. Writing the nonfiction that pays the bills. The stories are there and I'm a fairly good writer. So what, pray tell, is the problem?