Are you sometimes disappointed with your writing progress? You’ve sat down at your desk but at the end of your writing session, you don’t feel you’ve achieved much?
Watch my video or read the text below to find out why progress isn’t all about how many words we’ve got down on the page.
Hello my lovely writers.
I’m working on my new book and I’m at that funny stage in between first drafting and reading over what I’ve written so far.
The story’s already changing, so I’m having to read over earlier chapters I’ve written to figure out how I’m going to put this into place.
I sat down to revise a chapter yesterday, (I say ‘revise’ but I don’t really revise a first draft) and check the structure of the scene to make sure the chapter fitted in with this new outline.
At the end of the session, I felt disappointed. I thought, why am I feeling disappointed? and realised it’s because I hadn’t made the progress I had expected to. I hadn’t made the leap forward.
I didn’t have any new words on the page because I’m still first drafting. There were no new words down and I felt disappointed. I thought, I’m falling behind, I’m not sticking to the schedule I’ve given myself and I’m not doing what I said I would do.
Don’t be disappointed with your writing progress
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s experienced this but I had to really catch myself and say, ‘Do you know what? Don’t be disappointed with your writing progress. You have made progress.’
It’s not the progress I thought I would make, it’s not what I had envisioned for my writing session but the very fact I got to the desk and looked at the words on the page meant I was connecting with my story. I was getting close to the fire, and staying close to the fire meant I was making progress.
Even though it wasn’t the leaps and bounds I like to make and make me feel I’m making progress, it was a small incremental step towards getting to the end of that first draft.
I thought that was worth sharing with you in case you are in that same situation. The situation where you find yourself feeling disappointed at the end of your writing sessions because you haven’t done what you thought you were going to do and what you expected you were going to do.
It’s about reframing it
It’s about reframing it. We get the opportunity to reframe it and think, what did I manage to do? I managed to make sure the structure was in place and that it was fitting with the story going forward.
Maybe for you it wasn’t what you thought you were going to do but you’ve now got more clarity on the character you’re writing about or you know what’s going to happen going forward.
You’ve got enough down to give you that baby step, that incremental step, to get you towards the end of that first draft, or towards the end of that round of edits or round of revisions.
Everything we do, every time we come to the page, every time we come to our writing, we are making a little step forward.
Don’t be disheartened. Keep writing, keep writing.
Emma xx
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is an author mindset coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer’s block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel. Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
