rewrite // #hopewriterlife

day 7 // rewrite ✨

As a writer, one of the hardest things to do is rewrite my story.
I’m a little partial to those first words I put down on the page, often hesitant to change them because the story is as it should be.

I get worried that I’ll delete a line or a scene I need later, or that if I change something too much, it won’t turn out how I want it too.
So in my frustration, I stop writing.

Yet, when I step back from the page, taking a break for a day—a week—a month—I come back with fresh ideas & a better story to tell.

I can’t tell you what number of rewrites I’m on in this novel, (5? 15? 25?) but I do know that with each new revision, something shifts in my characters & plot, and I find myself sinking deeper into the story I’m meant to tell.

But isn’t that my life? I take steps forward in whatever season I am in, charging ahead with my plans, hesitant to change them. When they do, I find myself anxious & worried.

Yet if I could take a step back from my own heart, in that moment, perhaps maybe I would see the deep changes happening.

I never thought I would like rewriting novels, especially after being an English major for so long, but I’ve found myself enjoying the revision process much more than I ever thought, pursuing it fearlessly as my story changes over time, my soul with it.

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This post originated on Instagram as part of the Hope Writer’s #hopewriterlife challenge round 2, but I’m sharing it here are part of my Notes from a Writer’s Desk series.