Ms. Lamott’s advice to get started in writing, as offered in her book Bird by Bird, is to sit down and write. “Put a piece of paper in the typewriter, stare at it, and eventually you will write.” (6, Bird by Bird) As a rank amateur, I must disagree. Driving oneself through unnecessary anxiety is not only foolish, it is only also detrimental to the process.

Instead, I would recommend that one just relax, do whatever it is that gets the mind on a path – be this through walking, staring, drinking, watching nature videos – and when the idea comes, as it must, it must be noted however it can be set, through pen and paper or text messaging, and then set aside for a starting point. And later, with that in hand, is where to begin.