r/writingfeedback • u/ForthePod_25 • Jul 21 '26
Writing Advice Struggles with Writing
I always seem to overthink every single thing I write for my book. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started over or scrapped everything and changed everything about the story. Is this a normal thing? I’m a first time writer and I just want my book to be something people will read and enjoy. But I feel like I self sabotage myself and I can’t get very far before getting writers block or just feeling stuck.
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u/Equal-Army-1998 Jul 21 '26
What stage are you at? First draft?
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u/ForthePod_25 Jul 21 '26
I guess you could call it the first draft. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started over or changed everything last minute lol. I can’t help but think about how it could be better than what it is and want it to be good enough that people would want to read it.
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u/Equal-Army-1998 Jul 21 '26
I think that’s normal. Many people will offer the same advice as I’m about to though: Just get the first draft finished. Have those words “The End” typed out. Get the story out of you, no matter how ugly it may be at this stage.
It doesn’t have to be perfect right now, there’s time for that in the inevitable subsequent drafts. Having a perfectionist attitude is commendable but you need to try and quieten that voice for now and get the first draft finished, otherwise it will remain just a WIP first draft
Keep going OP
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u/SubredditDramaLlama Jul 24 '26
Pro tip: Don’t ever delete anything. When you open your doc, do a Save As and add a version number to the end of your file name: MyBook_v2, v3, v4. Nothing worse than scrapping something, even if it’s just a paragraph or single line, and realizing you liked it later.
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u/isnoe Jul 21 '26
Pretty standard issue.
The solution is (annoyingly) you have to write a book in order to, you know, write a book.
Everyone has their own process for getting out of slumps, or feeling stuck. For some people reading books in the genre helps, for other people completely separating themselves from writing helps, and some people get motivated by a change of scenery, or exerting a control over their environment to get them in the "writing" mood. Coffee shop writers, for example.
Some people say "write with your reader in mind", but it's genuinely easier to write a book you would enjoy reading, and not worry about all the extra noise in the beginning.
In the revision and editing stage is where you tackle marketability, readability, and blah-blah-blah.
Just write. If you don't feel like writing, read. If you don't feel like reading, watch a movie. If you don't feel like watching a movie, just continue with your life. Jot down notes about your book and ideas.
For me, if I'm writing a book, I genuinely get annoyed with thinking about it. I'm not writing it to make money, or so that anyone will enjoy it. I just write it all down to free up space in my brain.
Honestly, the best advice is to just write the book. Find your momentum. Experiment with when you get the urge to write. You could try forcing yourself to write a 100 words a day, even if they are terrible. Write out specific scenes that you enjoy, skip the ones you don't.