Some days, I'm the overthinker. I'll overplan things that don't need to be planned. I hyperschedule; I obsess over details.

And sometimes, fine, it makes sense: writing a novel is a bit like building a rocketship in your imagination, all the parts and pieces in your head. Some days it feels like rocket science.

But I have to remember: it's also okay to loosen up. Shake out cramped fingers, turn the characters loose to play for a while, make daisy chains out of words.

Sometimes I have to remember, this really is just a story. It's just a bunch of words.

And for those days, this quote: