This one is for all the kids who were always picked last in middle school gym class.

You remember what it was like. You’d stand there awkwardly with the group, each kid getting their name called by one of the team captains. One by one, they disappeared from the ranks and stood in line with the chosen ones.

Then it would get down to the last few kids. Each time, you hoped you wouldn’t be the last one. Maybe this time somebody would pick you. But once again, it got down to four, then three, then two, and you were the only one left.

So, you fell in line behind the other kids while the captain rolled their eyes because they just had to choose you. It wasn’t so much that you were chosen—you landed on the team by default.

Many writers spend their whole lives waiting to be chosen. They are waiting for some publisher, some agent, some blogger, some Amazon reviewer, some random person on social media to sit up and take notice.

But the truth is that you must choose yourself. You don’t need anyone to validate you as a writer. You can self-validate. If you are doing the work of a writer—which means, simply, that you are writing—then you can call yourself a writer, plain and simple.

The jazz artist Thelonious Monk said, “Whatever you think can’t be done, somebody will come along and do it.”

So why stand still and let others pass you by? This is your time. This is your moment. You must choose yourself. And the ironic thing is, when you start choosing yourself, other people will start choosing you also.