If It Scares Me, There's Probably Something There
So much of writing is about sitting down and doing it every day, and so much of it is about getting into the custom of taking in everything that comes along, seeing it all as grist for the mill. This can be a very comforting habit, like biting your nails. Instead of being scared all the time, you detach, watch what goes on, and consider it creative
... See moreAnne Lamott • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
This is a difficult problem, because you don't want to completely eliminate your horror of making something lame. That's what steers you toward doing good work. You just want to turn it off temporarily, the way a painkiller temporarily turns off pain.
Paul Graham • Early Work
As West Side Story lyricist Stephen Sondheim once said: “You have to throw out good stuff to get the best stuff.”