1. You’re challenging yourself, which is going to make you a better writer (and human) in the long-term.
2. As a reader, you saw every pristine, finished product and assumed it would be easy to create one of your very own. Someone forgot to mention it’s not easy. At all. Possible! But not easy.
3. You usually don’t become a bestselling author by doing anything other than working. Usually.
4. Writing requires the use of your brain, which requires expending energy, which often leaves you feeling drained — but hopefully (sometimes) in a good way!
5. We all want writing to take about 20 minutes and involve zero thinking. But that’s not how writing works.
6. Doing what you love still requires effort.
7. It’s likely you’re trying to write in addition to everything else you have to do as a human, which is pretty hard. It’s normal to feel like you’re forcing yourself to do it.
8. But some days you do have to force yourself to get started. Once you do that, it’s usually easier to keep going.
9. You want to do good work. You care so much about the story you’re trying to tell that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it good.
10. Writing is something you’re passionate about and you want it to matter to other people as much as it matters to you.
11. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard to reach your goals.
12. Because it’s a thousand times more worth it when all your hard work starts paying off.
Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is an editor and writer, and a 12-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food, and Star Wars.
Meg Dowell Writes 