You’ve had this idea for a while. It’s magical. It’s perfect.

In your mind, it’s the book that will change everything—captivate readers, shift perspectives, maybe even change lives.
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And then you start writing.
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Suddenly, the words don’t line up. The characters? Flat. The plot? Unraveling. It’s messy, clunky, and feels like a pale shadow of what you imagined.
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What went wrong?
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This isn’t unusual. It happens to every writer.
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In your head, the story is limitless. It’s untethered, free to be whatever it wants to be. But when you start typing, reality kicks in.
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Writing is where ideas meet friction.
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In your imagination, there are no constraints. The characters don’t need to speak—they already make sense. The plot? It flows because you already know where it’s going. But readers don’t live in your head. They only get what you put on the page, and making that transition from thought to paper is where the real work begins.
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Here’s the catch: most of us expect the first draft to be brilliant.
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It won’t be.
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The first draft is a beginning. It’s the messy version, where nothing feels right. That’s how it works.
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​The story in your head is the seed; the real work is in the rewriting, the reimagining, the crafting.​
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It won’t look exactly like your dream. And that’s okay.
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But sometimes, no matter how hard you work, the story still won’t come together. No matter how many drafts, no matter how much energy you pour into it—it stays stuck.
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This is the moment that matters.
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Is this story worth writing? Or is it better left in your mind, where it remains beautiful?
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Letting go doesn’t mean failure. It means you’ve grown.
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Not every idea is meant to be a book.
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But every time you walk away from one that isn’t working, you make room for something else. Maybe even something better.
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Hello!
My name is Jocelyn.

Story warrior, book lover, day dreamer, gardener, and creative. I help serious writers roll up their sleeves, get their novel ready for publishing, and reach readers. When I’m not elbow-deep in the story trenches, I’m outside world-building in my garden and battling weeds with my three criminal mastermind cats.