Thoughts on Going Before You're Ready

Because are we ever actually ready?

Nov 21, 2024

✨ This post was originally published under The Thought Spiral. Same voice, new name. Welcome to Follow Through!

💭 Thursday Thoughts

Last week’s newsletter was pretty loaded. Since I wrote it, I’ve been puzzling over what comes next. What do I have to say? Where do I go now? I’ve felt myself procrastinating, but it’s Wednesday night, so I’m going to put something I learned in art school into practice. I’m going to go before I’m ready.

The art of going before you’re ready is essential for all artists to master. Not all, but definitely most of the artists, and especially the writers, that I’ve met seem to struggle with perfectionism. Me included. And for good reason! We’re putting our hearts and souls into our art, rubbing ourselves raw to create something beautiful or meaningful, and if that wasn’t enough, we then have to be vulnerable enough to let other people see what we created and form opinions on it. It’s not for the weak.

No wonder we spend hours, weeks, sometimes even years obsessing over each minute paint stroke, word, or chord. It’s so much less scary to stay in the perpetual creation phase than it is to break free of that safe little bubble we’ve created for ourselves and put our work out there for the world to see and judge.

Don’t get me wrong, though. That bubble is important. I’m a fierce believer that you need to protect your art when you first start creating. You need to protect your ideas because receiving too much input or judgement too early can so easily throw your art off the rails. It becomes too easy to second guess yourself, and then nothing comes of an idea you were once so excited about.

But I think there have to be boundaries. Give yourself time to create and a set time to edit, refine, and zhuzsh, but then, once that time is over, you have to let people in. You have to put your art out there because your art is important. Your voice is important. And people need to hear it.

Novel Writing Updates:

I feel like I’ve finally clawed myself out of a writing slump over the weekend, and I’m so glad to finally be back in action! I don’t have all that many updates since my last post was less than a full week ago, but here are a few exciting things that happened:

Finished The Advanced Class at The Novelry
Started The 90 Day Novel class at The Novelry
Had my first 1k+ writing session for The Alchemy — this felt SO GOOD!
Continued Blair character work
Revisited the first chapters of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue for inspiration
Accidentally discovered a new character that I’m having a lot of fun writing
Researched Irish insults—there are a lot of fun ones like “narkey hole,” which basically means someone complains too much and does a lot of moaning and groaning.

This Week’s Little Bits of Joy:

Last night I went to an advance screening of Wicked, and it was so delightful! The whole cast is so talented, and I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. I want to live at Shiz!!!
The Stardew Valley 1.6 update finally came to Nintendo Switch earlier this month! I'm saving it as a reward for finishing the first draft of The Alchemy, but I’m so excited to go back into the world of Stardew! Maybe I’ll actually finish Ginger Island this time.
I got a hoodie from Comfrt, and I basically live in it now. It’s oversized and slightly weighted, which is amazing for my anxiety. I want 10 more of them (only a slight exaggeration).
My sister Kristin came over for dinner this week and her kids helped me put up our Christmas tree. It was such a nice cozy start to the holiday season.
Record players - this is a more general one, but something about the ritual of putting on a vinyl, manually flipping the disk, placing the needle *just right* to choose a song. It’s such a nice way to slow down and really appreciate the music you’re listening to. I really want to use my record player more as it gets colder and darker and I spend more time indoors.
The writing community I’ve found on Instagram has been so supportive, warm, and welcoming. I’m so grateful for the friendships I’m starting to form there, and I can’t wait to see what we all create in the coming years.
🎨 Mood Board