Write to please yourself.  Let yourself become a part of the story.  But here comes another one of those signifying “howevers.” Boasting is a bore.  Write about yourself with confidence and pleasure.  But make sure all the details-people, places, events, anecdotes, ideas, emotions-are moving your story steadily along, taking you where you want to go without bragging, being defensive or upstaging.

Disentangle yourself from the ghosts.  Stockpiling those disparaging memories defeats and hurts you.  Besides, they take up too much room.  I’ll tell you a secret…contrary voices suffer from middle-age spread.  The longer you keep them, the more they will swell to become bigger and uglier until they consume all the storage space in your head, crowding out not only your creative instincts but, worse, the confidence to expose your singular voice and view.  Fortunately they shrivel and shrink in the light.