​I think that many people would agree that our generation is the generation of need for constant stimulation. Since we’ve grown up in a society where we have constant access to stimulation, be it through televisions, our computers, our phones, and social media apps, our brains have literally evolved and changed as a result (Alvarez-Jimenez et al.). As such, it’s no surprise that many of us enjoy listening to music as we complete our homework. There’s something about it that’s so cathartic and comforting. I’ve found that when I do my homework, I’m able to focus better when I have music playing in my ears.

However, it’s a bit more difficult to find the right kind of music to write to. Your brain still has to be able to produce words for you to write as you listen to music, and having to multitask with both thinking of words to write and listening to the words in your music can prove to be distracting (Mahoney).

There are perks to writing to music, though. Listening to music while writing an essay has been shown to increase your creative process, and this, in turn, can make it easier to come up with ideas for your paper (Edmunds). For many people, the hardest part of the writing process is developing ideas, and music without lyrics can be really helpful in making that possible.

Now, I know it’s much more fun to listen to music with lyrics in it while you work. Personally, there’s only so much classical music I can take before I lose my mind. One of the things that I found works really well for me is being able to listen to karaoke versions of some of my favorite songs. I still get to listen to music that I enjoy without being distracted by the words that typically go with the songs. Some other suggestions of music to listen to that don’t have lyrics in them that can help focus your brain include listening to jazz music, electronic music, and music in a language that isn’t a language you speak (Edmunds). Try listening to a variety of different styles of music and playlists, and chances are that you’ll find something that works well for you!

There is data that supports the concept that listening to music while you write can benefit your overall writing process, so long as you aren’t listening to music with lyrics in it. So, if you’re like me, you can rest assured that music is good for your creativity, and you can explore a variety of different sounds and styles to find what serves you best. 
 
Works Cited:

Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario et al. The “online brain”: how the internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry. June 2019. DOI: 10.1002/wps.20617 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502424/
Edmunds, Leon. The Best Music for Students While Writing an Essay. Playground Professionals. 9 Mar. 2020. https://playgroundprofessionals.com/playground/musical/best-music-students-while-writing-essay
Mahoney, Trevor. How Listening to Music can Improve your Writing. Medium. 19 Nov. 2019. https://medium.com/med-daily/how-listening-to-music-can-improve-your-writing-4242b062bb0c

     Like so many others, the winter quarter has been rough. With cloudy, cold weather, an overwhelming number of readings and essays, and being the shortest quarter of the three main, there’s just so much to do in such little time. I have found myself constantly working on stuff for my classes that I have neglected doing anything for my own enjoyment.
     As an avid reader, finding time to read throughout my day is probably my favorite thing on earth, but when I have to read one hundred pages for my American Lit class in 2 days on top of writing a philosophy paper and a paper for my intercultural lit class, things like my own books and tv shows I want to watch get pushed to the side.
     In a lot of ways, I have found this really hard. Reading and watching tv have been great ways for me to make time for myself in past quarters, but that just hasn’t been the case this time. I’m sure a lot of fellow students have felt this way this past quarter; the things you like to do get sidelined as you try to juggle the things that need to get done.
     While I haven’t perfected the way to make time for hobbies in a busy schedule, here are some of the things I learned:

1. Use mealtimes as a way to do things you want.   
    I will admit, I have found myself reading articles or book chapters for class as I eat lunch or dinner, but I try to make a conscious effort not to. You have to eat a meal sometime during the day, and it’s the perfect time for a personal break. Whether your meal is fifteen minutes, or an hour and your break is scrolling though TikTok or reading a chapter of your favorite book, it’s 100% worth it. Because my personal schedule is so busy, I use meals as a dedicated time to catch up with friends during the week. Even a small moment with the things that bring you joy is better than no time at all.
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2. Don’t feel guilty about not having time.
     Because of how busy my schedule is, I often find myself only having longer periods of free time around 9 or 10 pm each night. Usually, I am exhausted at this point and while I have the time to do things like read or watch an episode of a show, I just don’t have the energy. This makes me feel guilty. I want to but I can’t. I’ve come to learn that not having the time to do something is okay. You shouldn’t feel guilty. It’s okay to choose something like sleep over other things if that’s what you need. Just know you are doing your best and there is always tomorrow.
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3. Look forward to the future with your hobbies.
     While it can be discouraging to not be able to do what you love in a moment, remember that it won’t be like this forever. School is overwhelming but recognize that with each quarter comes a new workload, schedule, and chance to do the things that you love. Continue to be excited about things. I know for me personally; I always get excited for new books from my favorite authors even if I know it will be months before I have time to pick up a book. Just because you can’t do something now, doesn’t mean you should give it up.
     As we wind down winter quarter and move into both spring break and spring quarter, I encourage you to find little moments with your hobbies and passions. Find the joys in life when you can and always take care of yourself to the best of your abilities. 

     As we close out the third week of Spring Quarter and start moving towards midterms, I have found myself hitting the slump that I hit every year during this time. After 2 very long and hard quarters, I am on the cusp of burning out and finding it hard to stay motivated at this time. I think this is a common experience across campus.

            With the weather turning nice, the days getting longer, and summer teasing its presence, it’s quite hard to fully to stay in the school mindset. However, with several more class weeks and a week of finals still ahead of us, it’s important to finish off the year strong. Here are my tips on how I stay motivated.

1. Plan in advance. Finding a balance between personal time and school commitments is important anytime of the year, but with the nice weather making its appearance, it’s important to make time to enjoy it. I like to schedule my personal time first, like when I’ll hang out with friends or read a bit of whatever book I’m currently on, and then schedule my schoolwork around that. I tend to do this more towards the weekend, as my weekdays can get pretty busy.
2. Do homework outside. When I get busy during the week with homework but still want to get some vitamin D, I like to do homework outside. Because of the bright sun, I tend to opt for work I can do without my laptop, like reading assigned books for my classes. I think this is a great way to have a balance of getting outside and still getting schoolwork done all at once.
3. Stay tidy. The last two quarters have kept me very busy and I wasn’t in my dorm room long enough to keep things tidy. I would often come in, drop off whatever I needed to drop off on a bookshelf or on my desk, and then head out again. This left my room super messy and often made me not want to get work done there because of the mess. This has caused me to dedicate a Saturday morning every few weeks to deep clean my room and use each Sunday as a small reset day. I have found that having a clean and organized space leaves me feeling more motivated and clear-minded as I do work and go into the next week of classes.
4. Let the idea of summer motivate you. In some ways, this one might sound a little counterintuitive, as dreaming about the summer might make you want to do even less work. However, I use it as a motivator to push through the weeks. I always think about how carefree I’ll be and how much fun I’ll have once summer is here, so I need to push through and try my hardest in Spring quarter and I don’t have to stress about what my final grades will be or figure out how to make something up once I’m official on summer break.

     There’s a lot to look forward to in the Spring Quarter, so you should make sure you’re having fun but also making it through the final push towards summer. Find a balance and take care of yourself. We’ll be out before you know it!

      Are you trying to achieve excellence in your professional and personal life? Are you looking for an effortless way to manage your time and lead your teams effectively? One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson has the answers to all of these questions. I intend to share my reflection on this reading and discuss how you can incorporate the lessons from this book in your writing projects, personal life, and professional life.
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The Lessons from One Minute Manager
     One Minute Manager offers three tools and asks you to spend only 60 seconds on each tool. These tools intend to improve your management style. First tool is to set three specific goals for your employees/team members and spend only a minute to review them. Second tool is to spend only one minute in praising the work of your employees/team members. Third tool is to spend a minute or less in showing your dissatisfaction with work (if any).

How to apply these tools in your life
     These tools can be applied at your workplace, in your class team projects, and more. You need to ensure that the goals you set are specific and achievable. You might want to look into SMART goals when setting goals for your team, for yourself, and/or for your employees. Personal SMART goals can be related to drafting your paper, such as completing an outline of Paper A in maximum of two pages including supporting arguments/quotes, number of paragraphs and main arguments in two days from now and meeting a writing consultant to review it on the third day. At the end of the second day, you would spend 60 seconds in reviewing your progress. If you accomplished your goal, you would spend only 60 seconds in praising yourself, and if you completed your goal poorly, you would spend only 60 seconds in criticizing your work. It is important that you highlight changes in your outline and set a new SMART goal in this process.

     I apply these tools in my life as much as I can. One important thing I realized was that I do not need to apply these tools in an order they are presented in the book. When I reflected, I also realized that no approach is free from limitations. However, we can adjust an approach to best fit our lifestyle, work, and school. I usually have more than just three goals for the week or month or the year. I also have some long-term goals. Assessing those goals usually takes me longer than one minute but by keeping this approach in my mind, I become more mindful of the time I spend in planning, goal setting, assessing, and praising. For instance, you do not need to set three goals to praise your best friend’s achievements in life. I apply these tools as they seem applicable in my personal relationships, too. For instance, I usually spend 60 seconds praising the achievements of my friends and siblings. You can too!
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     I hope these tips are as helpful for you as they are for me. 

A personal statement is similar to a short essay, but its purpose is to share about yourself and share what makes you UNIQUE. Many of you might be in the process of writing a personal statement for graduate schools. Therefore, I plan to share some tips and ways to get started with writing the first draft of your personal statement.

Let’s first build an understanding of personal statement. It is an opportunity for the admission’s committee to understand your life experience and passion outside the academic and professional experience (demonstrated in resume). However, you may draw the link of your passion with your academic and professional journey in the personal statement. Throughout my short life (so far!), I have written several personal statements -9 for graduate school and many more for the undergrad schools prior to that. One thing I always focused on was to share WHO I AM besides being a student and what I VALUE. This helped me in writing about WHAT MY PRESENCE IN THEIR CAMPUS CAN OFFER THEM. I believe that going to graduate school or any school or even workplace is a two-way relationship. Since you already know what they are offering (as you research the institution and programs before applying), a personal statement is an opportunity for us (students) to share what WE can bring to the table.

How to get started?

First step would be to brainstorm. You may use pen and paper or your electronic devices to write down your ideas. Here are some tips to get started with brainstorming.

• Write down your strengths and weaknesses. You may use Gallup Strengths Assessment or any other sources to learn about your strengths and areas of improvement. You can also gather this information by self-reflection, journaling or asking your friends/teammates for feedback. You may also seek guidance from the personal SWOT picture above.
• Try to think about examples related to your strengths or qualities. For example, if you say innovative is your strength/quality, then write an example of a time you were innovative or solved a problem with the help of this quality. 
• Think about your experiences (good or bad) that had a huge impact on your decisions about career, majors, personal goals, etc.
• Think about how getting accepted into the program of your choice would help you achieve your goals. You may also look for the unique aspects of the program that are not offered in any other program.

Helpful checklist for the drafts

• Is it authentic?
• After reading your personal statement, does it communicate who you are as a person? You can get to this by asking others to read it (people who don’t know you, such as the consultants at the Seattle University Writing Center).
• Is it free from grammar and spelling error?
• Is the information complete? Does it raise further concerns/questions about the story you shared? Generally, it would be good to ensure that all the relevant information is already included. In my view the personal statement should not leave the reader confused or require the need to ask for probing questions. It should intrigue them and give all the necessary information.
• Does the tone sound professional? It should not be casual unless it is specified in the prompt. This means avoiding humor and sarcasm.

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I can go on and on with the list. However, I think these are the most important things to consider when getting started with your first draft and revising it. Remember that it is a long process or writing several drafts so you will need to be patient with yourself. Make a goal to achieve from each draft so you can ensure that there is an improvement. Not to forget, you can get it reviewed by consultants at the writing center and get a more detailed and objective feedback on your drafts. You can also get it reviewed by the career center for an additional objective feedback.  
 
Good luck writing!

     For as long as I can remember, writing has been an emotional outlet for me. As someone who struggles to verbally express their emotions, mostly in the moment, writing allows me to sit in my feelings, analyze them, and meticulously craft how I want them to be expressed. I can lay myself bare. I can throw everything I’m feeling onto a fictional character and have them react in the way I can only dream of reacting. It is the most liberating feeling in the world. However, sometimes, that feeling of liberation can feel a bit trampled if your vulnerability is coming out in a piece of writing that will be viewed by an audience.
     As a writer, I write my best when I pull from my personal experiences and emotions. That means I always have a strong attachment to my writing. Some pieces are more vulnerable than others, but no matter what, I see myself in all of it. Because of how vulnerable I allow myself to be when I’m writing, even when it’s something like an assignment that will be read by an outside audience, constructive criticism and feedback can be hard to take.
     In no way do I think that I know absolutely everything when it comes to writing but having an outsider critique something that comes from deep within you can be hard to swallow. So many times have I felt like a weight has been lifted off of me because of what I write, only to have doubt come crashing in when someone gives me feedback about what I can do to “fix” it.
     I am currently taking a creative writing class where we write adaptations based off of art (e.g. paintings, photographs, music video, etc.) The three pieces I picked to adapt (The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli, Office in a Small City by Edward Hopper, and The Lovers by René Magritte) were all pieces that I felt I could use to replicate a moment or feeling with and make a story out of. I wrote about my personal trauma that has stemmed from relationships, the fear of losing my dreams and aspirations in order to survive financially, and the insecurities and vulnerabilities I’m faced with while dating my current partner. All my pieces have explored deeply intimate parts of myself, and I greatly appreciate having the opportunity to express those feelings. The part I don’t appreciate so much is having to share these pieces and receive feedback from my classmates.
     As much as I hate the feedback stage of writing, I have come to accept it and I think that is the important part. I don’t hate it because I don’t think the feedback is useful or I believe that I don’t have room to learn; I just dread having feedback made on something that is so personal to me. But that’s the point of creative work: being vulnerable. There is one thing I always tell myself when it comes to sharing my writing: you do not have to love sharing your writing and you don’t have to agree or use the feedback you receive, but you should at least hear it out. About 99.9999% of the time, feedback doesn’t come from a malicious place. People are just trying to help you grow as a writer and you always have room to grow. Feedback and criticism are just part of being a writer, but you decide how it affects you. 

     For as long as I can remember, I have loved to write. In a lot of ways, I have loved writing for far longer than I have loved reading. As a kid, I would spend hours jotting down my own stories in notebooks. I would lay awake at night thinking about all the possibilities for my stories and where I wanted things to go. I’ll be the first to admit that none of those stories were anything new, creative, or good, but they gave me a great outlet to express my creativity.
            As I got older, I wrote less and less. School took up lots of my time. I focused all my time on keeping my grades up. I was a varsity athlete. I also managed the boys’ swim team. I had so much going on that I didn’t have time to let my creative juices create more than just the basic premise of a story in my mind. It sucked because so much of me wanted to write but I just couldn’t.
            Eventually, senior year rolled around and the biggest decision of my life so far appeared in front of me: where would I choose to go to school and what would I major in. I applied to seven different schools, all of which had English programs, but my biggest desire was to go to a school with a creative writing program. I am very fortunate that my parents supported my desire to major in creative writing. They wanted me to enjoy my time in college and go after something I am passionate about.
            I picked Seattle U for a handful of reasons: 1) it was close to home and 2) it had a creative writing program. From that moment that I confirmed my enrollment, I felt like I was on the right track.
            Let’s fast-forward to this year. I am currently taking my first creative writing class since seventh grade. The objective of the course is to create a text adaptation based off a physical piece of art (a movie, painting, photograph, music video, etc.) In a lot of ways, I thought that this would be a breeze. I would view the physical piece of art as a prompt and I would have to write whatever I wanted as long as it referred to the original piece, however, I was very wrong.
            For about the last six years, I have written purely academic papers. The mindset of academic papers is so vastly different from the mindset of a creative story. I was going from writing true, hard evidence writing to writing where I could make everything up and no one could tell me it was wrong since it was all my original idea; from structure to absolute autonomy. In a lot of ways, it was scary and it made me doubt my abilities, but I knew I had to do it because I didn’t really have a choice.
            I started off by choosing an art piece that I was very interested in. I chose The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli. The painting is dark, ominous, and has lots of elements to use to spin a good story. I had never written a horror/thriller story before without some type of prompt, so I thought it would be something new and fun to try as I got reacquainted with creative writing.
            I was constantly reminding myself to take it easy and recognize that this probably wasn’t going to be my best work after not writing a creative story in so long. This story didn’t have to be groundbreaking or award-winning; I simply needed something to turn in and I could go from there. I also held myself responsible for holding back on how often I went back, deleted, and then rewrote things. I knew that if I was constantly going back and forth, I was going to be too harsh on myself and I knew I would never be happy with it.
            Holding myself to these things and being gentle with myself was super helpful. I enjoyed writing the assignment and even got really good feedback about it when my classmates read it. I know that I still have far to go, but in so many ways, I think I am finally back to what I want.

     When I was a kid, it would’ve been nearly impossible to find me without a book in hand. My parents often tell stories about when I used to hole up in my bedroom with a novel when we had guests over. I have vivid memories of sitting at my community pool on hot, summer days with my feet dangling into the water as I read another Beverly Cleary novel and of wandering through my local mall, eyes focused on my book instead of the clothing racks in front of me. When I was six, my optometrist told my parents that I needed reading glasses, and I wore them around my elementary school with pride.
     The older I got, the less I cared about reading. The cool kids at my middle school teased those who used to hide books under their desks in class so that they could read as our teachers taught, and because I was thirteen, I was willing to give up something that defined my childhood if it meant that I could climb the social ladder.
So, I did what I felt like was the obvious thing: I quit reading for half a decade.
     In March of 2020, like everyone else, I suddenly had a lot of free time in my hands with very little to do. On a whim, I asked my mom if I could order some books to read. As an English teacher, she was over the moon to hear that I wanted to start reading again and told me that she would cover five books for me. I picked out five random young adult books, unsure whether I would really get into them, and pressed the order button.
     I read all five books in five days.
    Since that fateful purchase, I’ve read hundreds of books in two years. I’ve stumbled into worlds with sparkling tales of enemies waltzing through ballrooms, plot twists that have left me suffering for days from whiplash, and most of all, experienced pure, unadulterated hope that when the worst happens, things will eventually get better.
At a time when things felt so dire and bleak, like I was in a constant state of purgatory, I always had a book to fall into. I think we love to read because we love to see what the world has to offer outside of our bubble. We love the feeling of falling for endearing love interests, the pride that comes with conquering our worst fears, and the knowledge that, even just for a minute, we get to escape our own stressors to live a fantastical, dreamlike reality.
     Now that I’m no longer couped up in my house, I’ve had to put a little bit more work into continuing my nurturing of reading. If you’re looking to fall back in love with reading—or in love with it for the first time—this is the advice I always give when asked how to make it happen.

1. Figure out what you like:
   1.  For a lot of people, this is the hard part.
   2. If you know anyone who likes to read, ask them for their recommendations on overarching genres (thrillers, romance, coming of age, or fantasy, to name a few). Chances are, they’ll be more than happy to give you some recommendations!
   3. If you don’t know anyone who likes to read, Instagram or TikTok can be a great resource! I’ve found a couple of content creators who tend to value the same things I do in books and whenever I need a new book, I go straight to their pages.
   4. When you read a book, keep track of things you do and don’t like about the book. Do you want romance in your book? Do you need insurance of a happy ending every time? Are you picky about writing style? How much do you prioritize plausibility in plots? Once you have a list of tropes going that you know you like in your books, it’s much easier to search for recommendations.
2. Carve out time to read:
   1. Repetition and routine are key to making a habit, and if you want to make reading a habit in your life, you have to develop a schedule.
   2. Try and carve out ten minutes every day to read or thirty minutes every other day.
   3. You can also plan a time of day, like right before bed or when you have breakfast, that you can use to help keep yourself motivated.
3. Use a reading tracker to set goals:
   1. If you need external motivation, apps like The Storygraph can be great assets! They offer curated recommendations based on what you like and give you pie charts about your reading habits throughout the year!
4. Learn how to overcome reading slumps:
   1. Even after years of carefully curating a list of authors and storylines I know I like; I still encounter duds when I’m reading that I just can’t push through. Suddenly, I end up in a reading slump, or a general disinterest in reading.
   2. When this happens, I take a break from reading for a day or two.
   3. After I take a bit of break, I’ll re-read a book I’ve read before. These books are usually fast paced, don't have super flowery prose, and have endings I like.
   4. Resetting like this can help remind you of why you love reading in the first place and can help prime you for a new book!

In today’s blog, I will be talking about the importance of writing and its impact on our well-being. One important thing to note is that you don’t always have to write academic papers to recognize the importance of writing and explore its benefits. You can also do it for fun and to aid in your well-being.

Importance of Writing and its advantages
Creative or expressive writing helps people in maintaining their physical and mental health well-being. During 2018, Cambridge University Press posted about a study of group of people who were asked to participate in an expressive writing for 15-20 mins per day. They were asked to avoid downplaying their emotions when engaging in this research. It was discovered that people who expressed confidence in expressing their emotions in the writing had better physical and mental health indexes compared to people who wrote about neutral topics and downsized their emotions in writing. The results of this study clearly highlight the importance of personal or expressive writing such as journaling to help people regulate their emotions and maintain their physical and mental health well-being.  

Now, let’s talk more about journaling and how you can get started with it.

Journaling  
Journaling is one of the healthiest ways to express oneself and deal with overwhelming emotions or situations. Whenever I have a bad day or the best day, I like to write about it. It helps me own my good actions and memories. It also helps me destress and prioritize my to-do lists, problems, and solutions on my bad days. Journaling gives us an opportunity to speak with ourselves and improve out communication skills at the same time.

Some tips about how to get started!
Some of the tips that you can easily incorporate in your busy schedule are as follows:

• Try to write 2-5 sentences every day!
• You don’t need to make an outline or define a structure
• Consider free style writing
• Add 5 minutes of journaling slot in your calendar or set up a reminder
• Don’t worry about the grammar and spelling errors to get started and to build a habit of journaling in the beginning

I hope these tips would help you get started on journaling while keeping up with your busy schedules. Once it becomes part of your routine and a habit, you can work on improving it or extending time spent in journaling.  Good luck writing!
 
Baikie, K., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11(5), 338-346. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.11.5.338   

There’s something so daunting about a blank screen, and I think that’s especially true when you’re trying to generate a piece of creative writing. You have an idea, whether it’s a line of dialogue, a snapshot of a moment in time, or a character who’s unrelentingly pestering you. It’s up to you to take that small detail and turn it into something beautiful.

So, how do you overcome the intimidation to do it?

The first time I ever tried my hand at creative writing was when I was twelve, seated in the back of a crowded minivan on my way home from a long camping trip. My blank notes app stares back at me, daring me to take the leap of faith and start writing, so I did.

I would be lying if I told you that I knew exactly what pushed me to start in that moment, but I’ve had a few years of practice since then and have tried all kinds of different things to overcome that moment of heart-clenching pressure that comes from a blank document.

In my opinion, there are two different ways in which lightning strikes on a new story: the inspiration and the writing itself. Neither happens without the other, even if they’re process of their own. Below, I’ve included a couple of ways in which you can jar these elements into action.

Inspiration: Inspiration—for me at least—comes from consumption of other media. It might be a song lyric I’ve heard dozens of times or the style of prose in a book I read, and part of why I love to write is because of the sudden moment when inspiration strikes in the most mundane of situations. Here is some of my advice on where you can find inspiration!

- Other books: Reading books in the genre you want to write in is a great step in getting inspired! It’s a great way to discover what kind of reading resonates with you, because, at the end of the day, your goal with writing should be to write what you want to read!

- Music: I am a HUGE Taylor Swift fan and growing up on her music has taught me the importance of digging deep into emotions, particularly in the idea of showing instead of telling. Musicians all present stories or moments in different ways and listening to their work can help you find your voice in your own writing.

- Your own community: I find the biggest inspiration in the people in my personal life, whether it’s through things they say, stories they tell about their lives, or how they interact with others. Comparing how people react to certain situations can allow you to learn how to create nuance and motivation in your own writing.

Writing: This is, more often than not, the harder part. You’ve found some element of a story you want to tell. Now what?

- Pinterest Boards: If there is only one Pinterest fan in the world, it is me. Before I start writing anything, I always create a board for each of my main characters before pulling quotes and images that visually show me who they are. As a visual learner, seeing the story come to life through images makes it feel more tangible and allows me to connect with it more.

- Outline: This is not something that every writer does, but it is critical to the success of my personal process. I like to outline the first few chapters in detail, write a summary for myself (like the one you’d read on the back of a book in bookstore), and break down key attributes of my characters before I even start. This sounds like a lot, but when I start writing, I know what I need to accomplish on my first page.

All these steps are helpful in starting the process of writing, but my biggest piece of advice is this: it doesn’t need to be perfect. It is very easy to get stuck in a space of not wanting to start writing because you are worried that it won’t be “good” on your first go. I know that this is something I struggle with, too.

Still, I always try to remind myself that this is only my first draft. The more you write of a story, the more you find the voice you want to tell it in and the more your characters click into place. This draft is to fully discover the story you want to tell, not the sparkling, final draft. You will always be your harshest critic. Be gentle with yourself and allow yourself to fall in love with your story, even with its flaws.

You are writing a story. That alone is success.