I used to think I had to have everything all figured out - that everything had to be perfect and shiny in order to be taken seriously - but oftentimes that led to a fear of rejection, fear of mistakes, and in the end I just gave up and didn’t try at all.
It’s taken me a long time to realize this, but you don’t have to wait until you’re perfect to do what it is you wanna do! We’re all just human with a finite amount of sand in our hourglass and, honestly, perfection doesn’t exist anyway (…unless your name is Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch, of course )
So what if you don’t know all the rules of writing? It’s your first time writing a novel? You didn’t study English in college? I say go ahead and do it anyway! Because in the words of Jamie Lauren Keiles:
The crappiest first draft is still better than the imaginary story you are withholding in your head.