There’s something totally unglamorous about building your dream life.
Sometimes it looks like cozy coffee shop writing sessions and aesthetic planners.
And other times?
It looks like writing through congestion, blowing your nose every five minutes, surviving on sheer determination, and trying not to spiral over plot holes in your manuscript.
This week was a little bit of both.
📖 My Goal: Finish Chapter 25 + Wrap Up Act II
Going into the week, I had one major goal:
✨ Finish Chapter 25 of Project Ember and officially wrap up Act II.
I’ve been deep in rewrites lately, especially as the story continues evolving into something far bigger and more intricate than I originally imagined. What started as a loose Cinderella-inspired revenge story has transformed into something completely different—more adventurous, more emotional, and, in my opinion, much stronger.
And while I’m incredibly proud of that growth, getting there hasn’t exactly been smooth.
🤧 Writing While Sick (Because Deadlines Don’t Care)
I’ve been sick lately. Like really sick.
It started as a sore throat and spiraled into full-on congestion, sinus pressure, ear popping, and exhaustion. There were several days when I genuinely didn’t feel like recording content, getting ready, or even looking at a screen.
But even while sick, I still showed up for my writing.
Not perfectly.
Not always enthusiastically.
But consistently.
My baseline goal has been:
✍️ 2,000 words a day Monday through Friday
And somehow—even through all of the congestion and brain fog—I kept hitting it.
That’s something I’m trying to remind myself more often lately:
You do not need to be perfect to make progress.
☕ Cozy Routines That Keep Me Grounded
One of the things that helps me stay creative is building little pockets of joy into my day.
This week looked like:
- Setting up my planner
- Getting ready for a livestream
- Testing out my new hair dryer
- Cleaning up my office space
- Snuggling Scout on rainy mornings
- Planning celebratory bookstore trips
- Vision boarding my dream life
There’s something about creating an environment that makes me want to sit down and write.
Not every writing day has to feel like a grind.
Sometimes romanticizing your life a little bit actually helps you keep going.
🌸 My Daily Grind Planner Obsession
Okay. We need to talk about the Daily Grind Spring Reset collection because I was SO excited about this package.
The collection was super limited edition, and I somehow managed to snag one because I buy so much from Daily Grind. (Listen… some people collect handbags. I collect planners and inserts.)
The entire box was centered on resetting routines, setting goals, and creating systems that help you actually follow through on your dreams. That message hit hard this week.
Because writing a novel isn’t really about inspiration.
It’s about systems.
Habits.
Consistency.
Showing up over and over again.
And having tools that help me organize my thoughts genuinely changes everything for me.
✍️ The Hardest Part of Writing Isn’t the Writing
Here’s something I realized this week:
The actual writing?
Easy.
Dialogue? Easy.
Descriptions? Easy.
Action scenes? SO fun.
But plotting? Structuring? Making sure readers feel emotionally carried through the story seamlessly?
That’s the hard part for me.
I’m such a perfectionist when it comes to reader experience.
I want someone to pick up my book, completely disappear into the world, put it down to sleep, and then immediately fall right back into it when they pick it up again.
That kind of immersion matters so much to me.
And this week, I found myself spiraling a little over whether certain twists were landing correctly, whether some chapters needed more depth, and whether the emotional pacing was smooth enough.
But I’m learning that drafting and polishing are two different things.
Drafts are allowed to be imperfect.
💭 Letting Drafts Be Messy
One thing I kept reminding myself this week:
✨ Future me can fix it.
There were moments where I intentionally left placeholder lines or emotional cues because I knew they would trigger deeper rewrites later.
For example:
“The silence was deafening.”
Do I want to keep that exact line? Probably not.
But it reminds me of what the scene needs emotionally when I come back to it for Draft 3.
Sometimes writing is less about getting it perfect immediately and more about leaving breadcrumbs for your future self.
🎉 Finishing Act II
And then finally…
After livestreams, nap-time writing sessions, rewrites, planner spreads, congestion, mindset spirals, and way too many tissues…
✨ I finished Act II of Project Ember. ✨
Or at least… finished enough to move into Act III.
That moment felt huge.
Not because the draft is perfect—it definitely isn’t—but because the story is becoming real in a way it never has before.
📚 Celebrating the Milestone
After finishing Act II, I decided I wanted to celebrate intentionally.
Not with hustle.
Not by immediately forcing myself into the next phase.
But by slowing down.
I started planning out:
- A potential trip to local bookstores
- A cozy planning session for May
- More vision board work
- Dreaming about future author life moments
Because one thing I’m trying to get better at is celebrating progress before rushing into the next goal.
💌 For Anyone Chasing a Creative Dream…
If you’re in the messy middle of your own creative journey right now, here’s your reminder:
You are allowed to:
- rest
- rewrite
- question yourself
- start over
- evolve your story
- take breaks
- celebrate small wins
Progress doesn’t always look polished.
Sometimes it looks like writing while congested in sweatpants with popcorn nearby, while hoping your toddler actually naps long enough for another writing sprint.
And honestly?
That still counts. 💖
If you want more behind-the-scenes writing content, cozy routines, and updates on Project Ember, you can always find more over on my newsletter and YouTube channel. ✨
