Baby Steps and Small Victories

It can be easy to get discouraged when it comes to writing. Sometimes you question if what you have done is worthwhile or if you should give up. You may think that everything you do has already been done and done better than you.

If you find yourself in such a funk, then step back and take a deep breath. Don't worry about the big picture right now. Take baby steps. Do you have an idea? If not, then try some brainstorming exercises. If you do have one, then try doing some outlining of it. Write a rough draft that you intend to throw out. Heck, before that, just write a sentence. Then write another sentence. Finish a paragraph. Then do another paragraph.

Writing, like any endeavor, is simply a collection of baby steps. These baby steps are totally achievable. Maybe trying to do twenty baby steps all at once is overwhelming, but one is totally doable.

Every baby step that you complete also counts as a small victory. Since writing is just a bunch of baby steps, then finished writing is a ton of small victories. If you are feeling down, then look at how many baby steps you've achieved and celebrate all of them. If you've only done a couple of steps, that's still enough to celebrate.

And if you think that you haven't finished any steps, then think again. Just deciding that you want to write something and trying to get started is more than many people do and is definitely the first small victory on the road to many more.