© Elke Oerter

I’ve just sent out my first press release about EssentialWriters.com.

I’m used receiving and press releases – and yet sending out my own was surprisingly nerve-wracking. Every week or so I send out a handful of feature proposals or, more rarely, the precious synopsis of a book, and I’ve never managed to get to the point where I can do it without feeling a twinge of anxiety.

There’s something about sending my creations out into the world that makes me want to shake my head and shout No!

It’s lucky I don’t have children – I’d be too afraid to leave them at the school gates.

But what use is there in creating (hopefully) beautiful things if you don’t go on to share them with the world?

I suppose part of it lies in the fear that perhaps the world won’t want a share. Everything I write is a tiny part of me – a memory, opinion, reaction or idea. Each submission is an act of faith – trusting that the recipient won’t ridicule, destroy or, worse, ignore my words.

And yet, each day I start again, sending things out and cheerily waving them off in the hope they’ll come back, bolstered by other peoples words, by their approval, or simply by provoking an opinion, reaction or idea.