Every writer will say writing is one part joy and one part agony. There’s a drive to commit your character’s story to the page, but seeing it all come together is an arduous undertaking, especially when you’re writing a full-length novel and not a short story. Writing my own story has had its ups and downs. Sometimes the words flow out of me and onto the computer screen, or I’ll have days when writing a scene or tone in my head feels a lot harder than it should be. A writer might not always have a clear path ahead for where a story is going until it’s written, but you begin to develop an instinct for knowing what should be cut out or reworked as you’re writing it.