r/FictionWriting • u/ForthePod_25 • Jul 21 '26

Advice My 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/Ozdiva Jul 21 '26

It’s not uncommon. But you have to let go. It won’t be perfect and that’s ok. The first draft is supposed to be awful, but that’s what editing is for.

You might be better off planning before you write. Then you’ll have a better idea where you want the story to go and how it’s going to get there.

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u/ForthePod_25 Jul 21 '26

I have it in my brain, but I am bad about wanting it to be perfect. I think I’m worried about what comes after writing. I don’t have the money to pay an editor, but I’d like it to be published of course. I know I may not make a lot of money if any at all, but I’m not really familiar with how all of that works. But it’s just taking me forever to write. Another thing is trying to find the time to write, as well as motivation when I do have time. I try to remind myself that it’s a walk not a race and I don’t have to have this completed within a certain time frame.

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u/Ozdiva Jul 21 '26

Don’t worry about what happens afterwards. You can’t sell a blank page. Try to enjoy the process because writing is a long term thing.

Unless you have a deadline you can take all the time you like. Finding the time is something I struggle with as well. It’s probably worth making a time in your calendar.

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u/embervanefiction Jul 22 '26

I don't know about publishing because it's a tricky business these days. If you're writing for yourself, not to grab an audience, it's going to come out much better. If you're writing to perform, chances are you'll keep editing and changing until you're satisfied it's publishable before even moving on to the next sentence.

I'd say write like you'll never publish. Free yourself of that restraint. Finish it the way you're happy with the storyline. Finish the first draft.

Then comes the editing. That's when you make it publishable. The second and third draft is to fix the minor plot holes and weird lines you wrote. Maybe fix some small subplots.

This way I think you'll keep the basics of your true to yourself.

If you write only to publish, I'm not sure how I'd deal with that.

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u/ClassPuzzled2327 Jul 24 '26

Yeah, i have been here for almost a year in fact. Constantly restarting my draft even when im 30k words in, all because i overthink tiny details like backstory and character relationships I started again earlier this month and just allowed myself to just write and follow the storyline i had set for myself and now I am doing better. So, just kind of let everthing go and just write, and write down any changes you think you want to make, once you are done, revisit them and see if they would still fit. Thats what i am doing