You write a paragraph and then you reread it. Change a word. Fix the sentence. Read it again. Delete something. Rewrite it. Then suddenly you’ve spent 30 minutes on one tiny section and you haven’t actually moved the story forward. ❓ Been there ❓ This is one reason I encourage writers not to get pulled into editing while the manuscript is still developing. When you’re drafting, the goal is different. You’re discovering. You’re getting the story onto the page. 📄 You’re learning what’s actually there. Sometimes I’d rather see notes like: ⁉️ COME BACK TO THIS ⁉️ and have you keep writing than watch you spend the entire writing session trying to make one section perfect. There will be time to improve the language. There will be time to fix transitions. There will be time to decide something needs more. First, I want you to give the story room to exist. ‼️REMEMBER‼️ You can’t edit the book you haven’t written yet. So, if perfection has been keeping you stuck lately, try this: Write the imperfect version. Mark the places you know need attention. And keep moving. What would happen if your next writing session was allowed to be messy? 🤔

I really thought I'd be further along by now. 😂 My fantasy book has taken longer than I originally planned. And you know what? I'm learning to be okay with that. ❤️ I'm learning from my characters. ❤️ I'm figuring out what works for me as a writer. ✍️ ❤️ I'm running The Storyteller's Path. ❤️ I'm spending time with my family. ❤️ I'm living my life. ❤️ And I'm still writing. 📖 That's something I've had to remind myself of. A writing journey doesn't have to look perfect to be real. I'm learning things through writing my own book that also help me understand the writers I work with in completely different ways. So I'm not rushing this experience away. I'm living it. Learning from it. And continuing to write. ✍️ Now I want to hear about YOUR journey. Has your book taken longer than you originally expected? What has the journey taught you? Share it in the comments! 👇