I Can’t Believe I Wrote That!

For the past week I’ve been trying to write an op-ed and I’ve been mostly paralyzed by a crisis of confidence. There are three publications I admire most and I have the opportunity to write an op-ed for one of them, which is great. It doesn’t mean that what I write will be accepted, but I have the chance! Except I keep starting and then I stop, after finding something more urgent that must be done. Like making a new litter box for my cats, which is what I did on Thursday, the last day I had a chunk of time to write.

Then this morning, another op-ed I wrote about bringing back asylums came out. I re-read it immediately. When I got to the end my first thought was, “I can’t believe I wrote that!”

Maybe I can do that again. I’ve got a free day to write.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

2 thoughts on “I Can’t Believe I Wrote That!

  1. Stacy,
    Your op-eds are so great. Sincere, serious, but not overbearing. That’s not so easy to do, particularly on your chosen topics. The suggestion to not chip away funding where it is really needed is such a nuanced one. Everyone builds, no one wants to maintain.
    You wrote that! I’m not sure why you’re so surprised by that, but keep up the great work.

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