Good morning, Cyberspace! I am incredibly excited for this week’s string of posts! Last week, we discussed all sorts of bookishness, like my favorite reads of 2025, my least favorite reads of 2025, and the books I’m most excited about trying out in 2026! And while I love talking about books with everything in me, there is something I almost love even more...

Writing.

When I first started blogging, it was mostly to start documenting my experience as an aspiring author. That blog, Smudged Thoughts, is no longer running, but the posts remain on the internet for the world to pick through if it so desires.

Over the years, I’ve developed a serious love for the writing craft. One might even say it is borderline obsession. But as the years grew longer, more and more life things started vying for my attention. Work. College. Trying to survive the horrors of this universe… And I discovered that while I love writing, there are some troubles that come along with it…

---

THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING…

…is writing is hard.

Sometimes, even now, even knowing how false the vision is, I get this image in my head that I will be able to sit down, stretch my fingers, and start scribbling away for hours on end, eventually returning to the waking world with a perfectly penned tome in my hands. Obviously this never happens. Even the most proficient writers do not do this. And to expect this to happen is absolute absurdity.

The cold, unfeeling truth is that writing is hard. And if you expect to write a novel–or a short story or a poem or a play or whatever–you have to go into it knowing that it will be hard. It will be worth it, 100%. But it will be hard.

And that’s okay.

THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING…

…is there is always something else that will get in your way.

Time doesn’t magically bend to give us more hours in the day just because we want to write a book. I wish that were the case–truthfully, it would make life so much easier!–but it’s just not. We all get the exact same amount of hours, we all get the same amount of time. What differs is how we use it.

It’s kind of ironic how writing is one of the hardest things to find time for. It’s why finishing a book is such a milestone. You actually sat down for minutes, hours, days, years on end and finished the story. You committed to something long term. It’s an incredible feeling!

Social media is flooded with authors holding up their proof copies and telling readers how excited they are to be holding their book baby. We see the tears in their eyes and think “wow, I wish that was me…” And then we continue our doom scroll…

Fascinating concept, right?

You’re always going to have something begging for your attention. It’s what you choose to give your time to that matters.

THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING…

…is no one else will do it for you.

If you slack on your dreams… that’s it. Game over. This isn’t like a 9-5 where everyone is replaceable. You’re the only one able to write your book like you’d write your book. So if you don’t do it, no one will.

THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING…

…is once you start, you cannot stop.

I started writing when I was a kid. I finished my first book when I was 12. Ever since then, I haven’t stopped. It’s been short stories and poems and books and half-finished manuscripts and tales in my head that haven’t been put to paper yet. And I have loved every. single. minute.

Being a writer isn’t something that just goes away. If you can stop writing and shush the voices in your head and they never come back, I would question whether you had the spark at all. But if you step away, and the voices are still whispering even in the quiet, and you try your best to shake them only for them to claw deeper into your flesh… you, my friend, are a writer. No ifs or buts about it.

And yes. Writing comes with troubles. A lot of them, even. But the biggest trouble of all is how very little these troubles become as soon as you start.

So start writing. And keep writing. And don’t let anything–not even yourself–keep you from it.

---

TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

A bit of a different post on this crisp Monday morning! This week officially feels like the start of Christmas, so I’m in a more cozy vibe than usual!

are you working on any projects this winter? any cozy plot lines keeping you warm? what is your biggest trouble with writing (and how do you overcome it)?

As always, until next time…

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*