The gray mini van’s tires crunched gravel as it came to a stop. Four college aged guys jumped out of the van. It was spring break and they were excited to begin the long awaited camping trip they had been planning for months. Loaded with camping gear and backpacks, the guys headed towards the woods. Skipper led the way, which wasn’t a surprise. Skipper was tall and built like a truck. He played on the college football team and wherever he went, it seemed natural for the others to follow along. Cal was close behind. Marty and Charlie walked side by side arguing about where the best place was going to be to make camp and then hike to the first geocache. As they neared the entrance to the trail, Skipper suddenly stopped. Cal was looking down and ran into him. Next to the entrance was a severe looking older woman with thin gray hair and a plain faded black dress. She was sitting on a rickety lawn chair and was flanked on either side by two dour children: a girl wearing a ragged striped pinafore and a boy with tattered brown shorts and a stained white t-shirt. Leaning on the woman’s knees was a cardboard sign with words scrawled on it that read, “Help Mother Wattles or have bad luck.” Mother Wattles, if that was her real name, stared at the boys. The children stared straight ahead. Skipper reached for his wallet and handed her $10. Mother Wattles produced a basket for the money and nodded her assent. Cal followed suit and dropped a $5 note in the basket. Charlie hastily grabbed the first bill his fingers touched in his wallet and gave $20. Mother Wattles nodded to both in turn. Marty handed her a pack of gum, minus the piece he was chewing. He tried to move on quickly but Mother Wattles extended her leg making him pause. Her eyes looked down at her sign, Marty’s eyes followed, then she looked at Marty. Marty looked at her sheepishly. He smiled weakly and shrugged his shoulders but Mother Wattles’ steely gray eyes made him shiver. He lowered his eyes quickly and stepped around her leg,running after his friends.

How much does perfectionism creep into your writing habits? It can manifest in a variety of ways, but for me, it appears in three: resistance to change, over-explanation, and frustration with my writing abilities. Each of these can be solved in different ways. If I'm resistant to change, what I need is for someone to read my work and give me honest, actionable feedback. Odds are there are bits I'm not happy with, but I convince myself to keep them because I just don't want to take the time to make the changes. I tell myself I'm satisfied with it for now and I can polish it later. Well, later has to come eventually, and getting someone to help you do it will make it more palatable. Getting an outside perspective can also help me realize where I over-explain. And when I get frustrated with my writing talent, or lack thereof in the moment, I just need to take a breather, remind myself that I can fix it later, and read something else because I notice that my writing improves whenever I actually read other authors. I talk more about this in the new chapter I just uploaded to "Writing the Piano," so check it out and share your thoughts below. I'd love to hear some feedback, especially on what motivational content you need. I'll leave you with this question: does perfectionism creep into your writing, and if it does, how does it manifest?

Hello writers, In my time as a writer and in various writing circles online, I've come to understand that imposter syndrome is one of the most toxic and painful things that a writer can, and likely will, deal with, especially as a new writer. That's why I wrote a chapter about it in my new course. You can find this little chapter, "The First Obstacle Is You," in my brand new course "Writing the Piano: A Beginner's Guide to Writing." Please tell me what you think about it so I can expand on it and make it better in the future. And tell me what else you want to see. What do you struggle with as a (new) writer?

Hello everyone, It occurred to me that despite being a community dedicated to writing and being creative, there wasn't a proper space to discuss books and literature. That oversight has been rectified.

Hello writers, Welcome to the new "Writing Motivation" channel. The purpose is pretty self-explanatory: share motivational writing content. Find a cool quote or book you like? Post it. Have some existential writing epiphany? Share it. Need some specific motivation? Ask the community and see what they give you. This channel is for talking about the act of writing, why it matters, and why you should stick with it even when it's hard.