Common Wisdom

January 2026

Hello everyone!

There is light at the end of the editing tunnel! Or is that a train speeding towards me? Only time will tell as I head into draft 4 of God Words Book 1! Read on for more…

The Projects In Progress

Despite my adorable and attention-hogging tiny humans on holiday, I did manage to get my first pass of edits complete and can officially say ‘Draft 3 complete’! Cue party poppers and a little treat for me (books and way too many sweets).

I then dove into a clean read through of the entire manuscript (it has grown to over 110,000 words now). I had a solid serving of existential doubt and anxiety about it all, and sought support from author friends that have been there and done that. These gems of humans helped me keep calm and carry on, and so I can now say that Draft 4 has begun in earnest!

Once that’s finished… Oh my god, it’s really happening. I’m sending it to Beta readers!!

Breathe, Ashley. Breathe. It will be okay. The Beta readers can’t hurt you…(or can they? Ahh!)

What am I going to do while they’re busy reading what has taken years for me to finally put together?

Write the first draft of God Words Book 2 of course! And maybe actually come up with a proper working title for Book 1…God Words has always been the series title in my mind.

The Other Worlds I’ve Gotten Lost In Lately

I’m sad to say the only real world I’ve been hopelessly lost in is my own at the moment! God Word re-reads and edits took up a lot of my time the past two months, and I just haven’t had the energy to pick up and read much.

I did have the opportunity to Beta read a few short stories and flash fictions for some author friends, which is always a pleasure.

Seeking to get my head back into books very soon, as I am a better writer when I am reading, that’s for sure.

Off On Tangents

Today’s tangent is about one piece of writing advice that I want to admit to trying, and realising it may have actually sabotaged me worse than anything else in 2025.

What advice was that, you say?

The advice to walk away from my work for a period of time to get perspective.

In theory, the advice is sound - walk away, work on other things, get some distance from your writing and then pick it up and shred it in edits with a more objective eye. I certainly thought it made sense, and so dutifully I took a break for a few weeks, set it down, touched grass, and played around with another couple of writing projects…

…and then found it almost impossible to get back into God Words again. In fact, an edit that could have possibly taken a few months ended up taking almost half a year. I spent weeks second-guessing, false starting and forgetting everything that I needed to fix. Then came the self-doubt and the resistance to sit down and do the work.

To this day I look back and wonder if it wouldn’t have served me better to just power through. At Draft 4 now, I took two nights off to play around with Pinterest boards and got straight back into it and have found much less resistance, and yet still enough objectivity to be willing to cut paragraphs, rewrite sections and think of creative ways to up tension and stakes for my characters. Time will tell if I made the right call this time around, but at least initially it has been a lot easier to slide right back into the rhythm of the work.

Are you second-guessing any advice you were given in 2025? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear all about it!

Yours in fumbling about life,

Ashley Marasco

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