We’re our own worst critics when it comes to writing our novels

You have to get to The End in order to look at your writing objectively.

Tell me if this is familiar: one day, you wake up with a ton of energy and enthusiasm for your story. You sit down, maybe set a timer, and write an amazing scene. Your dialogue is flowing, your characters are interesting, and you’re super proud of the scene once you're finished.

Then, the next day, you wake up with less energy. Maybe your kid was up at night with an upset stomach, or you couldn’t get to sleep because you were stressing about something at work. Or you stayed up late finishing the last chapter of a new novel.

Whatever the reason, your energy levels are way lower when you show up to write, and you really struggle to get through one scene. The characters don’t have anything interesting to say, the drama in the scene seems too ridiculous, and you can’t actually remember why you’re writing this story in the first place.

With a day like that second one, it can be hard to decide to keep working on your story. It may feel so tough that day that you decide to take a break the next day, to give yourself some time to reflect on the story and do some brainstorming. Then, the next day, you can’t think of anything new to write, so you skip writing again. And suddenly, a whole week has passed without any writing, and it feels impossible to get back into the story.

In the past, when I’d write, some days I felt amazing about it. And other days I felt like it was the worst thing ever.

Or some days, I had a ton of energy and the words flew out of me. But then other days, I’d be tired and it felt like pulling teeth to get anything coherent on the page.

I used to let this get to me, and I’d get discouraged when I thought about how bad the words were or how hard it was to write that day. Sometimes I’d stop writing for a week or two because it felt like a waste of time.

What I eventually realized was by the time I got to The End, and I read over the first draft, I couldn’t actually remember what parts had been written when I was feeling bad, or what parts I thought were shitty when I wrote them. In fact, reading over the first draft, every page had something to fix 🤣

But that’s the point of the first draft—it’s going to be shitty. It’s never going to be perfect. It always needs editing.

If I got discouraged in the first draft because I thought the writing wasn’t going well, so I stopped writing, I’d never have the chance to edit it and make it better. I never would have published 6 books.

You aren’t going to love every single thing you write, and that’s perfectly okay. In fact, that’s part of the process.

Even if it takes the joy out of writing when you re-read what you wrote yesterday and think it’s awful—then don’t re-read what you wrote the day before! Just keep moving forward and get the story out of your head as quickly as possible. If you stop to re-read, your inner critic comes out and ruins the party. Focus on what you love about your novel, and write scenes and characters that make you happy.

With my book coaching clients, I give regular feedback so they can see what’s working and what needs improvement, and so they can make those adjustments as they write forward.

But if they get too caught up in wanting to go back and fix something, cycling through the same chapter over and over, or feeling discouraged because a particular scene was tricky, I find ways to encourage them to keep moving forward. Even with a coach by your side, you’ll still end up with a messy first draft, and that’s perfectly okay. In fact, that’s part of the process of writing a novel.

Do you struggle with having different energy levels on different days, and getting consistent with your writing as a result? Try focusing on getting through the first draft as quickly as possible, and trust that you can edit whatever you come up with.

In my book coaching program, you’ll not only finish a novel you love, but you’ll notice all of these mind games that can happen as we write, and we’ll come up with ways for you to deal with them so that they don’t get in your way as much anymore. Learn more about my book coaching program on Instagram.