Every writer has a story to tell. This isn't a profession you take on lightly, and for many of us the Muse's first gift is pain. There will be darkness, and there will be light, but we must never lose who we are to the changing shades around us. As writers, we have a duty to ourselves, if not to the world itself, to be true to our nature. The words we weave will outlast any suffering in our past, and if we're very lucky, they will endure long after we're gone. Make no apology for who you are. There will be detractors, and even those who condemn you for the very gift you have to give. Your path may be laden with grief, and there may be times when all the world seems to abandon you for your art, god knows I've been there; but if there's one thing a good writer knows how to do, it's spinning that very grief into prose, and nurturing that pain into poetry. You're only beaten when you stop fighting back. Or when you put down the pen and surrender.