Writing has always been my dragon.

It has been this imaginary entity in the shadows, incubating and feeding in some dark cave deep within, waiting for the right time to rear it's beautifully ugly head and challenge me to an epic duel.

Me: just a man. The dragon: a full-length novel.

It has been so easy to give in to self-doubt. Avoiding confrontation with this beast is the easy road... and one I've been known to take. I've sidestepped the battle through small deflections of writing shorts and blog posts. Never an opus.

What if I fail? I can't possibly write a novel... how would it ever get published anyway?