You’re Not Behind
You’re Building Something That Lasts
I had a plan.
I was going to finish my novel by the end of April.
Clean ending. Nice little celebration. Move on to the next phase.
But life had other plans.
Fatigue showed up.
Business ideas started pulling at my attention.
Social media reminded me I “should” be consistent there too.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, I found myself staring at my manuscript thinking:
I’m going to need a few more days.
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And for a moment… that felt like failure.
Not because anything was wrong with the story.
Not because I wasn’t making progress.
But because I had created a deadline in my head—and I didn’t meet it.
If you’re a writer, you know that feeling.
The quiet pressure.
The internal disappointment.
The voice that says, “You should be further along by now.”
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But here’s what I had to remind myself—and maybe you need this too:
You’re not behind.
You’re building something that takes time.
This isn’t just a random project I’m rushing to complete.
This novel is:
The first book in a 10-book series
The foundation of a world I’ll be writing in for years
The beginning of something I’ve wanted to do for a long time
And rushing the foundation… never ends well.
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We don’t talk enough about what writers are juggling
Because writing isn’t the only thing we’re doing.
We’re also:
Managing our health
Taking care of our families
Trying to build income streams
Showing up online so people know we exist
And somehow… we expect ourselves to produce like writing is our only responsibility.
It’s not.
And pretending that it is will only wear you out.
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So I made a small shift this week
Instead of saying:
> “I didn’t finish on time.”
I’m saying:
> “I’m finishing well.”
There’s a difference.
One comes from pressure.
The other comes from purpose.
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If you’re in the middle of a project right now…
Let me say this to you clearly:
Taking longer doesn’t mean you’re failing
Slowing down doesn’t mean you’ve lost momentum
Needing rest doesn’t mean you’re not serious
It means you’re human.
And you’re still writing.
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What matters most right now
Not the deadline.
Not the word count comparison.
Not what someone else is doing.
What matters is this:
👉 You don’t quit on the story.
Even if progress looks like:
300 words instead of 3,000
One scene instead of three chapters
Sitting with your thoughts instead of typing
It still counts.
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I also had to think bigger than this one book
My husband and I talked about the full series—10 books.
And instead of trying to rush everything into one year, we made a decision:
👉 Two books a year. Five years.
That’s sustainable.
That’s realistic.
That’s something I can actually stick to.
Because I don’t just want to start this series and quit.
I want to finish it.
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And who knows where it could lead?
He sees it as a movie.
I’m thinking maybe a Netflix series one day.
And maybe that sounds big… but every series that made it to the screen started the same way:
With one writer… finishing one book.
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So here’s your reminder today
If you’re still writing—
If you’re still showing up—
If you haven’t given up on your story…
You’re doing better than you think.
Take the extra days.
Take the rest when you need it.
Take the pressure off long enough to actually enjoy what you’re creating.
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Because this isn’t just about finishing fast
It’s about finishing something meaningful.
And that’s worth the time it takes.
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Keep writing,
Susie