During my first read-through edit of Nigredo Manifesto, I noticed something that made me laugh. In one chapter alone, I found seven different uses of “looking back.” At first I thought, okay Rose, we get it. You are looking back. 😂 But the more I noticed it, the more interesting it became. “Looking back” wasn’t just repetitive wording. It was an orientation phrase. While I was writing my own life, especially difficult parts of it, I was constantly placing myself somewhere between then and now. “Looking back” helped me create enough distance to see the experience, interpret it, and put it into language. So yes, I’ll probably rework a lot of those sentences during editing because the reader doesn’t need to be reminded every few paragraphs that the narrator is speaking from the present. But I’m not mad at the phrase anymore. It may have been scaffolding. Sometimes repetition isn’t only weak writing. Sometimes it shows you how the writer was able to approach the material in the first place. Now that the story is on the page, I can remove some of the scaffolding without removing the perspective that made the writing possible. Has anyone else found a phrase they apparently leaned on a lot once they started editing? 😆📖

There were times in my life when I questioned whether I was good enough. Good enough to create the business. Good enough to write the books. 📚 Good enough to do the thing I felt pulled toward. And one of the things I wish I could have heard more clearly was: You matter as you are. Not when you’ve accomplished enough. Not when everyone understands you. Not when someone gives you permission. Just because you exist. I think that’s part of why I care about writers trusting themselves now. Because when you’re writing something personal, it can be very easy to start looking outside yourself for permission. Is this important enough? Am I qualified to tell this story? Will someone approve of how I tell it? Can an expert tell me whether I’m doing it right? Guidance can help. Feedback can help. Structure can help. But none of those things can decide whether your experience mattered. ❤️ That belongs to you. ❤️ And if you choose to turn that experience into a book, I want the support around you to help you become more connected to your story, not less. ❤️