It is an empirical fact that the odds in writing are worse than in the rest of life

For about four years now, I've kept a list of things I'm anxious about. The things are specific stuff, like "My book won't get any offers when it goes on submission" or "The rattle in my car's engine will turn out to be some terribly expensive problem that will make my car unusable."

And whenever I go back to the list to add new things, I'll also look at…