Small Wins Matter

I’m not sure about you, but feeling discouraged about my writing is easier than I like to admit.

A while back I was having one of those weeks where discouragement just hits hard. The goal had been to start drafting a new story, but my schedule and a lack of mental energy conspired against me. It took days before I got the opportunity to scrounge up a few words.

Sometimes life just hits hard. And when that happens, it’s all too easy to feel like you’re failing as a writer.

When I sat down to put an entry into my writing journal, though, my mindset flipped. Sure, I didn’t get many words. But I had started drafting. That’s still a major milestone!

I continued with the journal entry and remembered that I opened up my last novel for beta feedback. The process of asking for feedback is a small step, but it’s still incredibly important for growing as a writer. A lot of kind encouraging people had already responded to my request for beta readers.

Past that, I received an invitation to speak on a podcast, I talked with a friend about doing a blog guest-post swap, and I finally sent an article query that I’d been putting off for months.

The point here isn’t that I actually accomplished a lot: It’s that my mindset was wrong. I was zeroing in on the fact that my word count was small when I could have been celebrating all of the smaller accomplishments.

Those small wins matter. They add up. So next time discouragement is hitting hard, take a minute to step back and try to change your mindset. Instead of focusing on what didn’t happen, ask yourself what things you could be celebrating.

What’s one small step that you’ve taken recently? Post it in the comments so I can celebrate with you!