So, your story’s not written yet. It’s been years now, and that’s bothering you – Guess what – THAT’S NORMAL!
It takes time to master the writing skill. If you write regularly, you will see your improvement over time, but whether you write regularly or not, improvement will never stop. Growth and development is ongoing and unlimited.
It takes time to get to know your characters. You’re dealing with a lot of people, all of them different from each other. You not only have to discover and portray their personalities but their backgrounds and goals as well. That information will not arrive neatly packaged and at once.
It takes time to get to know your story. As different characters develop and interact, your story evolves. Main areas and scenes might be all worked out, but how they connect and combine adds new flavor and complexity. It takes time for a story to mature and become all it can be.
It takes time to write your book. Deciding or discovering how to express your words, your story, your characters and plot, spending hard time at the keyboard doing it, working it, refining and editing – ALL OF THAT TAKES TIME!
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Going by my own experiences and in interacting with other writers, I have learned that most writers are severely self-critical. So, do yourself a favor and stop being harsh on yourself for not having instant and marvelous results overnight. A lot of work goes into writing a book and you’re doing it. That’s something to be proud of.
Happy writing, everyone! 😀
Allyson
Bloodstone Sci Fi 
Ah thank you Allyson, just what I needed. Thanks for the great reminder.
So pleased this helped – I think we all need this reminder from time to time. Cheers! 🙂
Thank you for this encouraging post. Just started to take writing a story seriously a few days ago and just got my outline written and have started in. And though it is earlier I am already worried about this. It is so new and so big of a task I am not sure if I will have it in me to see this story through, but I have to not worry and just do and see what happens. Often I was pleasantly surprised when i did free writes to find at the end of half an hour that I had written something, when in the beginning I didn’t think there was anything in my head to be written.
I like also how you neatly separated the points with mini headlines. It felt professional and easy to read through it.
Wonderful! That’s greatly appreciated. And, yes, I know that feeling of ending up with better than anything expected at the start. It’s one of the greatest joys of writing when you discover your own creation and it surprises you. So far, each book I’ve written has been like that. Sounds like you will find the same. 😀
Thank you for saying so, I hope so.
If you already feel the ache to get there, you’ve been writing long enough to have the dedication to get there. Even if you have to do every step by yourself, as I did. You’ve got it in you already. Cheers! 🙂