Sway with me, baby

My creative work runs from knitting design to writing.
This week-end I began to write something big.
I am scared to death of the big. That's why the longest of my stories contain 500 words max.
However, this week-end I read some interesting articles from The Writer magazine (issue December 2006). It is amazing what you can learn when you are open to it.
These articles stressed research. They encouraged the new novelist to live with their story for six months. Does it still catch your interest? Then write.
"And the most important thing I tell beginning writers is that, when you suddenly realize that you've written the absolute worst thing ever written in the history of mankind, don't let yourself stop; force yourself to go through to the end. And then you can make the choice to scrap it or fix it. But if you don't go through to the end, you'll never know if you can." From Leslie Garisto Pfaff's interview with Jodi Picoult.
So I am in for the long haul. Wish me luck.