Writing Update: I Started Working on My First Novel

In April, I opened up about my writer’s block on this blog. For full transparency, I was feeling really low at the moment. You probably get the desperation of not being able to work on something that you’ve been wanting to make progress in for years. In my case, that’s my very first novel. This inability can feel demeaning at times – especially when I see people I’ve known for years writing and publishing their books and stories.

Well, as they say, comparison is the thief of joy, but still, it can hurt. It’s not even envy. On the contrary, I feel so happy when I see people creating and sharing their work or art with the world. It’s so refreshing.

It’s just that I get like… why not me?

I end up facing the usual questions that show a certain lack of self-worth: am I not working hard enough? Am I not a good writer? Have I already reached my peak?

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The good news is that after I shared my struggles, things got better very quickly. It felt like a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders.

So, I got motivated to finally start writing my book. I’d made several attempts in the past, but I never got too far. Some rewriting doesn’t feel like a big deal, and the ideas I have for the first chapters are more or less very specific.

Also, the premise exists and has existed for several years: Depressed writer decides to change his life and himself at the lowest point of his existence. Love might be the answer.

My main character has been living rent free in my mind for almost 10 years at this point. Overall, I know how I want him to be and act.

Anyway, in order to maintain my motivation, I decided to set a word goal for my book. I’m not even sure that it won’t end up being more or less words, but I needed something to make it accountable. So, I set a goal of 70k words, and luckily both Scrivener (affiliate link alert!) and Notion help me keep track of it easily.

So far, I’ve written around 3.5k words, and the fact that I actively write and work on it makes me very happy.

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I have more good news, though! I’ve seen a difference when it comes to my overall creativity. I’ve been having more story ideas (that I make sure to write down), writing some poetry, giving a little more time to my hobbies.

Also, I just feel different – in a good way. I’ve been more optimistic and determined. I see glimpses of myself that I thought they no longer existed, and that’s the most amazing feeling.

All these changes, even if positive, made me feel a little overwhelmed for a while. Everything felt a little all over the place because my brain felt like that. But things have started improving, and I’m getting back to my usual routines.

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So, these are my recent writing shenanigans and updates. I hope you enjoyed this blog post.

Feel free to share in the comments what you’ve been on recently! Did you write or create anything? I’m looking forward to knowing!

Until next time!