So write every day with the confidence that you can get published if you just learn the craft well enough. Great. But that is not all the confidence that you need.

The second utilization of this word is writing with the confidence that people will like what you are writing.

You must believe in your story. If you do not, no one else will.

Mull the story over in your mind. Draw it out in diagram form on a dry erase board. Talk it through with anyone who will listen. Daydream about your...