Afraid to Write What I Truly Feel

Question:

I love the alice books! they seem so real and true.  you are a truely gifted at writing. alice seems like a real person.  I love to write but afraid to write what i truely feel.  how do you deal with people judging your books? And when do you think the new alice book will be in paper back?

Phyllis replied:

Publishers usually wait a year or a year and a half before they reprint a book from hard cover to paperback.  As for writing what you truly feel, how else can you write effectively?  How else can you put down on paper the story that only you can write?  If it simply mirrors what everyone else thinks or feels, then what’s the difference?  Write for yourself alone to begin.  When I wrote my autobiography for adults, “Crazy Love,” I started thinking, “What will my mother say when she reads this?  How will my sister feel?”  And I realized that if I let that guide me, not only would the book be dishonest, but I would never be able to finish it.  So I wrote it the best I knew how, then went back over it to decide if there was something hurtful to someone else that really didn’t have to be there–that contributed nothing to the account–and left it out.  Write for yourself first, as true as you can be, and realize that this ability to be honest is what will make you a writer.