For about the first month after I had started my first novel, the first four chapters just sat there. I enjoyed telling my (non-writer) friends that I had been working on my book, and being able to impress them by having thirty pages done. However, deep inside my inner consciousness, I knew I was still procrastinating. Finally, I began to think about the scope of the story as a whole, and to build confidence in the characters and plot lines I was developing–the number of chapters left to write didn’t scare me, but instead became exciting building blocks to construct my story. This motivation, coupled with a solid dedication to writing one chapter a day (and sometimes more), during the month of February was the turning point for my book–a month had elapsed and I went from being marginally happy to tell my friends I had 25 pages done, to being ecstatic to report I had 25,000 words completed! Trust me, there were some days where forcing myself to write was the hardest struggle, and the work I produced felt like absolute garbage, but then, looking back at those pages, the grim mood at the time of writing does not show through in the voice of the work itself. Examples such as this are just one of the many facets of how I have been gaining confidence as a writer; persistence not only means the pages add up, but your confidence as a writer is built up as well. With that being said, I am off to write the second chapter of my second novel, cheers!