on Writers in the Storm:

You thought you were done—until you read your draft again.

The first time I finished a first draft, I celebrated with an entire box of chocolate. I’d completed a novel! All that stood between me and a polished manuscript I could start submitting to agents was one quick pass to clean things up. How hard could a second draft be, right?

I poured my heart and soul into that next draft, and followed all the advice I’d read about. I revised my manuscript into what I was sure was a solid book ready to go.

Then I read it again.

Yikes. My “brilliant plot” had holes you could drive a tank through. My “witty banter” made me cringe. My protagonist came across as whiny and inconsistent. That second draft was a disaster, and for a moment, I seriously wondered if I should ditch the whole thing and start over.

**A messy second draft doesn’t mean you got it wrong—it means you’re actually seeing what you need to do to get it right.**

That emotional high from finishing a draft is real—and well earned, ’cause this stuff is hard. But once the celebration is over and you read it again, the flaws jump out.

It’s not just disappointing, it feels like the whole book is falling apart and you wasted all that time writing junk. But here’s the truth: every writer goes through this. That drop from confidence to self-doubt is a normal part of the process. Your story isn’t broken, it’s just ready for the next stage of its journey (and so are you).