Time to get something off of my chest. I have carried this around for a long time, but I don't recall ever sharing it with anybody. Therefore, any people reading this are my first victims.

I know that I am an above average writer. I would probably excel at work like grant writing, speech writing, etc., but I am convinced that jobs with such work are now extremely scarce, there is a lot of competition for them, and, therefore, it would be prudent not to play any cards in my hand with a writing career in mind.

But I am not here to talk about career choices. I am here to talk about academic life.

Basically, I can produce good written work in sociology, political science, geography, etc. easily and with​ minimal effort. I feel like I am spoiled​. Once, after procrastinating until the last minute I whipped up a research paper for a political science class in one night. An "A" on that paper, and an "A" in the class. Somebody will probably bring up grade inflation, but I learned a lot researching and writing that paper and I was pleased with the final product, so it doesn't matter.

However, historical writing intimidates me. I enjoy doing​ historical research, but I have zero confidence about ever being able to produce scholarly historical writing. If it was not for that I would seriously consider changing direction academically and pursuing a degree in history if I ever make it back to school (the issues of the developing world is what I have for a long time wanted to spend my academic career on, so majoring in history would be a 180 degree turn).

Is all of this anxiety over nothing?

Or is historical writing in fact different from writing in the social sciences--telling a story more than making an argument--and something that only a few can develop a feel for?