Hi Lindsay:<br /><br />Thank you for your kind words.<br /><br />Now, to take your questions in reverse order. As far as I know, nothing I've published is online. There used to be one or two articles, but they have since vanished. I have magazine and newspaper clippings of course, but I rarely look at them. I'm too embarassed.<br /><br />You already have what it takes to write: motivation. But here's a tip: it isn't easy. It never is, probably not even for Wiliam Shakespeasre. You probably think that I go though an essay in a few minutes. Not true. I spend at least two hours on every one, sometimes much longer. That's why I'm not rich.<br />&nbsp;<br />I used to think when I started university than one hour would produce a good essay, at least a B. By the time I graduated, I spent 20 hours on every one. I suppose I did get better as a writer, but I certainly got pickier. I just wanted the essay to be as good as I could make it.<br />&nbsp;<br />So, the best way to write is just write - oh, and be your own worst critic. I used to spend a whole day on an essay's title, something you'll have noticed with your essays. I sometimes change even your titles. It isn't that mine is better; it's just different, another way of saying the same thing.<br /><br />So keep writing. Ask yourself, Is it better to say, "The Seach for Self" or "Searching for Self" or "Searching for Thyself"? Your decison. Not the editor's.<br /><br />Believe me, Lindsay, your confidence will grow with practice. I can tell, from your essays, that you have the intelligence, the ability and the motivation to write very well. And I know you will.<br /><br />Best wishes - George