I’m so excited to be publishing my first book soon! There’s no feeling quite like finishing something you’ve made and getting ready to share it with the world. Terrifying is actually the first word that comes to mind, but once I get past that, there’s much more joy and loads of relief because it feels like an accomplishment, something to be proud of. I can’t believe it took me ten years to overcome my fears and actually share some of my stuff with all of you.
If you’ll listen to a bit of advice, I would definitely say to start now. Don’t wait to share yourself and your work with the world. You have something to bring to the table. And you might get harsh feedback – it’s something we’ll get plenty familiar with over our lives. But even criticism – and here I mean criticism, not constructive criticism – can be used to grow. I got a lot of harsh criticism when I was younger, and it did stifle me for years. But that experience then helps me now to let go of things that don’t need to be held onto, to ignore the things that aren’t helpful and listen to the people who are. And it’s a pretty great feeling to be able to succeed in the face of people telling you that you can’t do something, to prove them and your doubts wrong. Maybe that’s why there’s so many rap songs about it.