Your job is not to be a writer. Your job is to be a published author.

I read this piece from Lauren DeStafano today about anxiety, and specifically how the challenges of managing anxiety are compounded by the demands of being an author. Though the whole piece is very good, this bit in particular stood out for me:

“…there is a lot of pressure to be normal, and, as an author, to be what readers expect. During Wither’s launch week, when faced with more reading and signing events than I was able to handle, I broke into tears and told my agent, “My job is to be a wri...