23: Things I Did to Write My Story (That Were Actually Setting Me Back)

When I first started writing my book, I thought I was doing everything right—polishing every sentence, perfecting every detail, making sure every word sounded like a bestseller.

In actual fact I was setting myself back (by literal years).

Now that I’m 60% through my first draft (!!!), I can clearly see the habits that slowed me down and the mindset shifts that finally helped me move forward.

THEN: Editing as I Went

I wanted to write my bestselling book straight away. In my head, my first draft was the final masterpiece. I’d spend hours perfecting a single page, believing it had to read like the published novels I was obsessed with at the time.

I didn’t realise that published books go through many drafts and not just from the author but through professional editors too.

All this early editing did was suppress my creativity and build resentment toward my draft. Every “perfect” paragraph killed my momentum a little more, and I gave up on my story countless times, feeling more and more like a failure who was never going to write the damn book.

NOW: Never Looking Back During the First Draft

I’m now 60% through my first draft and I haven’t looked back once.

Even though my plot completely shifted at the 40% mark (making the entire beginning technically “wrong”), I refuse to rework it. I refuse to stifle my creativity. My job right now is to finish the draft, not fix it.

A messy first draft is proof of growth and discovery. It is evidence that I am unlocking the potential for my story. Everything before today’s writing session? That’s future Renee’s problem in the second draft.

THEN: Perfecting My World, Characters, and Outline Before Writing

I thought I needed to know everything before I began. Every corner of my world, every detail of my characters, every turn of the plot. That it was impossible and impractical for me to write “blind”.

It made me feel productive, but really? It was just disguised procrastination.

The more I planned, the more boxed in I felt. My characters became stiff. Dialogue felt unnatural and forced. My world was unnecessarily complex and confusing. My outline suffocating. Writing my first draft stopped feeling like creation and started feeling like compliance.

NOW: Letting My Story Reveal Itself

When I finally let go of the need to control everything, my story started breathing and taking on a life of its own.

And funnily, not one single thing from my early character profiles, worldbuilding notes, or outline has survived—not. a. single. damn. thing.

And that’s okay. Because the real magic happens in the writing.

You learn who your characters are when you’re in their heads, responding instinctively. You discover your world by walking through it with them. You uncover your plot by following where it naturally wants to go (within the frame of structure—I’ll explain in the last point). Your first draft is meant to take on a life of its own.

Between drafts, I’ll rebuild everything from scratch now that I have a deeper understanding of my story and characters.

If you want to refine your own characters or world, I’ve created printable and editable workbooks designed for exactly this stage.

THEN: Blacklisting Story Structure

For the longest time, I believed structure was the enemy of creativity.

I thought story structure was boring, restrictive, and formulaic (the opposite of discovery and freedom).

But what I didn’t realise was that by rejecting structure, I was actually rejecting direction, clarity, more creativity, and the chance to create something truly unforgettable.

NOW: Using Structure to Support Creativity

You’ve probably heard the analogy: masculine energy is the glass, feminine energy is the water.

Both are vital and necessary.

Structure (the glass) gives creativity (the water) shape and direction.

Before using story structure I was truly lost on where to take my story. I had a lot of ideas and concepts and no way of working out how to piece them together effectively.

Once I started using structured outlines, my story flourished. Suddenly I wasn’t lost or second-guessing myself. I had a compass pointing me forward.

Story structure shows you what to hit and when, but the journey? That’s entirely yours to create.

The most successful stories in the world follow structural formulas—not to limit creativity, but to unlock it. Once I studied them, I realised that my favourite books and films all used these frameworks in their own ways. It is these formulas that make their work unputdownable. And now I get to apply that same formula of success to my own work.

Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that?

If you’re ready to learn the craft of structure, I highly recommend The Writers’ Studio Australia’s First Draft Course — it changed everything for me.

Epilogue

Writing a story isn’t about perfection. It’s about discovery.

Every time I stopped trying to control my process, I found more joy, depth, and direction than I ever thought possible.

The only thing your first draft needs to be is written.

Happy writing,

Renee Ella x

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