I’m superstitious. I don’t like to walk on manholes or underneath ladders. The neighbor with the black cat? I try and keep to my side of the street. However, such philosophies can work against writers.

Come on, admit it. I know you have some writing superstitions. Perhaps you won’t title a thing until it’s finished. Maybe you won’t even begin to draft the first word of your story without being utterly sure about the ending. Do you stay in bed on the 13th? Not read works by your favorite authors while penning your own masterpiece?

To be honest, I have my own superstitions. For the longest time, I wouldn’t tell someone about my current project. “What are you working on now?” a friend might ask.

“Oh, this and that. A little revision.” Cue the subject change.

I thought that if I told others about my work it would lose some of its potential. I thought it made most sense to wait until a project was complete. THEN I’d tell them everything they wanted to know and I’d also have the words on the page.

Yet I recently realized such cageyness can undermine a project. Things aren’t going the way you imagined? No problem. It isn’t like anyone is waiting to read your essay…. and therein lies the problem.

Give your project a name. Tell others what you are working on. Share with them what excites you about your work and what puzzles you. Don’t give yourself an out. Make it real. Start with a name.