You're holding yourself back. I don't know you and haven't read your writing, but I can say that pretty confidently. Why? Because we all do. We naturally stay where it feels comfortable. Now, let's talk about how to push ourselves and our writing.

📚 Looking for a thoughtful and passionate book editor? You found one: https://victoriagriffin.com

A good story can become unforgettable when a writer takes a risk. Pushing yourself past your comfort zone can create some of the most beautiful work you'll ever produce. But it's not as simple as saying "just do it." Let's talk about practical ways to work through fear, identify which risks are worth taking, and get more comfortable putting your whole heart into your work.

Takeaways for your writing:

• Understand how doubt might be holding you back, without you even realizing it
• Learn how to get comfortable analyzing your own work and learning when to lean in to fear
• Identify and write to your passion

What's something you were scared to write? Tell us about it in the comments.

▶️ To learn more about viewing your work objectively, check out this video: https://youtu.be/v2AiaPQXQjc

⏱️ CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS
0:00 - The editor's perspective on writing
0:29 - Fear as a barrier to action
0:57 - Personal doubts and vulnerability
1:25 - Understanding internal hesitation
1:55 - Recognizing different forms of fear
2:21 - Courage to take creative risks
2:49 - Writing through personal challenges
3:48 - Choosing exceptional over good enough
4:17 - The power of extra effort
4:47 - Developing objectivity in writing
5:16 - Evaluating risks worth taking
6:11 - Critical analysis without self-judgment
6:39 - Separating yourself from your work
7:06 - Building self-awareness and confidence
7:35 - Facing fear honestly
8:34 - Acting despite fear
9:00 - Passion as motivation
9:29 - Finding your true focus
9:59 - Defining your writer identity
10:54 - Writing with purpose and magical realism
11:21 - Letting passion outweigh fear
12:14 - Rooting efforts in purpose
12:43 - Practicing honesty and courage

🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
YouTube: https://writingwoods.com/youtube
Spotify: https://writingwoods.com/spotify
Apple: https://writingwoods.com/apple

📌 FOLLOW ME
Instagram → https://instagram.com/vgriffinauthor
Facebook → https://facebook.com/vgriffinauthor

📖 New Author’s Handbook [Free Download] – A guide to help you navigate the publishing process:
https://victoriagriffin.com/handbook

📚 Publishing Path Quiz [2–3 Minutes] – Quick, personalized advice for your publishing and editing path:
https://victoriagriffin.com/quiz

This one important element of your manuscript will completely change the reader's experience, and you're probably not giving it enough thought. The plot is important, but if you ignore how it's delivered, you may not tell the story you meant to.

📚 Looking for a thoughtful and passionate book editor? You found one: https://victoriagriffin.com

Every story has a plot, but how you deliver it shapes the reader’s experience in powerful ways. Learning to make intentional decisions about your story's structure is important to writing the story from your imagination. This doesn't just apply to fiction. Even memoir requires these choices.

We'll cover the elements I evaluate as a developmental editor. And we'll discuss how to make deliberate choices about your story’s structure. Learn to evaluate structural choices for each specific story, rather than being locked in to the choices you've always made.

Takeaways for your writing:

• Learn the difference between structure and plot
• Get comfortable making story-specific decisions about structural elements
• Understand how these choices shape the reader's experience

What's the most unique way you've ever structured a story? Tell us in the comments.

⏱️ Chapters & Time Stamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:25 - Welcome to the Writing Woods
0:48 - Why story structure matters
1:15 - Containing your plot
1:43 - Welcome to the Writing Woods
2:13 - The impact of structural choices
2:42 - Stepping out of your comfort zone
3:09 - Two main structure elements
4:35 - Scene sequencing essentials
5:03 - Start and end points
5:56 - Subplots and pacing
10:08 - POV and narrator choices
12:04 - Choosing your POV character
15:10 - Structuring individual scenes
16:08 - Developmental editing for all genres
17:08 - Revising and editing efficiently

🎧 Listen to the podcast:
YouTube: https://writingwoods.com/youtube
Spotify: https://writingwoods.com/spotify
Apple: https://writingwoods.com/apple

📌 Follow me:
Instagram → https://instagram.com/vgriffinauthor
Facebook → https://facebook.com/vgriffinauthor

📖 New Author’s Handbook [Free Download] – A guide to help you navigate the publishing process:
https://victoriagriffin.com/handbook

📚 Publishing Path Quiz [2–3 Minutes] – Quick, personalized advice for your publishing and editing path:
https://victoriagriffin.com/quiz

Straight from the professional editor's playbook: Use this trick to save time and energy while editing your writing. I'm going to teach you one trick to get you off the editing hamster wheel.

📚 Looking for a thoughtful and passionate book editor? You found one: https://victoriagriffin.com

Whether you’re revising a novel or short story, the editing process should be structured the same way. Learn how to approach self-editing like a professional editor. Steal this trick from our playbook to edit faster and more efficiently so you can start writing your next book.

Takeaways for your writing:
 

• Understand why your editing process never seems to end  
• Learn how to apply the process professional editors use 
• Edit efficiently to save time and energy

Have you felt stuck in your editing process? Tell us about it in the comments.

▶️ Still feeling frozen with self-editing? You might be missing this skill: https://youtu.be/v2AiaPQXQjc

⏱️ CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS

00:00 - Introduction: Save time editing
00:26 - The key to editing efficiently: high to low
00:55 - Why writers dread editing
01:24 - Editing can actually be fun
01:52 - Two biggest tips for efficient editing
02:21 - What "high to low" editing means
02:49 - Developmental vs line editing
03:17 - The problem with starting at the sentence level
03:41 - Why story-level first saves time
04:08 - Avoiding double work in editing
04:38 - Tackling story before prose
05:06 - The challenge of focusing on one level at a time
05:35 - Developing the skill to see forest or trees
06:04 - Importance of having a plan
06:28 - Learning to ignore distractions while editing
06:56 - Self-editing vs professional editing
07:24 - Letting the manuscript rest & read-throughs
07:54 - Starting revisions at story level
08:17 - Multiple passes may be needed
08:41 - Working down from story to chapters and scenes
09:10 - Flowing naturally to prose-level edits
09:38 - Flexibility in self-editing
10:06 - Going back when story changes require it
10:35 - Practicing high-to-low editing efficiently
11:04 - Avoiding distractions from low-level issues
11:29 - Keeping focus on what matters
11:57 - Pausing & maintaining editing flow
12:24 - Continuous practice and improvement

🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

YouTube: https://writingwoods.com/youtube
Spotify: https://writingwoods.com/spotify
Apple: https://writingwoods.com/apple

📌 FOLLOW ME

Instagram → https://instagram.com/vgriffinauthor
Facebook → https://facebook.com/vgriffinauthor

📖 New Author’s Handbook [Free Download] – A guide to help you navigate the publishing process: https://victoriagriffin.com/handbook

📚 Publishing Path Quiz [2–3 Minutes] – Quick, personalized advice for your publishing and editing path: https://victoriagriffin.com/quiz

Make self-editing easier with one important change to your perspective. Learn how to step back from your story and get out of your own way. Here are practical techniques to start learning how to edit your book with clarity and confidence.

📚 Looking for a thoughtful and passionate book editor? You found one: https://victoriagriffin.com

If you’ve ever struggled to see the flaws in your own writing, you’re not alone. Editing your own book can feel overwhelming. It's easy to get stuck in your story and lose sight of the big picture. Let's talk about practical strategies for developing objectivity as an editor of your own work.

Whether you want to self-publish, query literary agents, or submit to small presses, self-editing is a critical skill. There's no such thing as a perfect first draft, so your ability to effectively revise and edit your book will make or break your career as an author. That's a lot of pressure, so let's look at some ways to take some of the pressure out of this process.

Takeaways for your writing:

• Techniques to make self-editing faster, easier, and less stressful
• Confidence in revising your book without getting stuck in your own story
• Practical steps to develop the habit of honest, effective self-editing

When was a time you had trouble seeing your writing clearly? Share your story in the comments.

▶️ Looking for more ways to simplify your editing process? Watch this next: Write 3x faster (and minimize editing time): https://youtu.be/QLYma-lYUcE

⸻

⏱️ CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS

0:00 – Intro: I used to dread editing

0:39 – Welcome to the Writing Woods

1:29 – Why objectivity matters

3:36 – Too close to your story

5:36 – Step 1: Let your manuscript rest

6:56 – How long to let it rest

7:45 – Step 2: Play devil’s advocate

10:04 – Don’t just defend your choices

11:02 – Step 3: Be honest with yourself

11:57 – Facing discomfort in editing

12:40 – Remember your writing goals

13:31 – Practicing objectivity

14:57 – Checking your emotional responses

15:27 – It gets easier over time

⸻

📌 FOLLOW ME

Instagram → https://instagram.com/vgriffinauthor

Facebook → https://facebook.com/vgriffinauthor

📖 New Author’s Handbook [Free Download] – A guide to help you navigate the publishing process:https://victoriagriffin.com/handbook

📚 Publishing Path Quiz [2–3 Minutes] – Quick, personalized advice for your publishing and editing path:https://victoriagriffin.com/quiz

You'll write 3x as fast, and your drafts will be way better. This one simple method completely changed the game for my writing process. Welcome, storytellers. Let's wander into the writing woods.

Boost your writing productivity, and produce better drafts that require less editing. The method isn't easy, but it is simple. If you're willing to put in the work up front, you'll reap the benefits later in your writing process. Let's discuss how deep outlining can save you time, money, and a lot of frustration.

📚 Looking for a thoughtful and passionate book editor? You found one: https://victoriagriffin.com

What you'll learn:

• How to write faster without sacrificing quality
• How deep outlining will trim your editing time
• How to create better drafts that need fewer revisions

Does deep outlining sound exciting or scary? Leave a comment below.

⸻

⏱️ TIME STAMPS

0:00 – Introduction

0:28 – Welcome to the writing woods

1:12 – Evolving as a writer

1:37 – Planting the seeds

2:16 – Struggling to write

2:48 – Drafting vs. editing pain

3:14 – Deep outlining: The game-changer

3:55 – What a deep outline is4:35 – Using Scrivener with deep outlines

5:08 – Benefits: Faster writing & better drafts

5:56 – Time investment vs. payoff6:56 – Client example

8:00 – Deep outlining recap

⸻

🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

YouTube: https://writingwoods.com/youtube

Spotify: https://writingwoods.com/spotify

Apple: https://writingwoods.com/apple

⸻

📌 FOLLOW ME

Instagram → https://instagram.com/vgriffinauthor

Facebook → https://facebook.com/vgriffinauthor

📖 New Author’s Handbook [Free Download] – A guide to help you navigate the publishing process:https://victoriagriffin.com/handbook

📚 Publishing Path Quiz [2–3 Minutes] – Quick, personalized advice for your publishing and editing path:https://victoriagriffin.com/quiz