My standby playtime routine as a child of the ‘80s, when Disney VHS tapes were watched until you could only see tracking lines, was acting out Maid Marian being rescued by Robin Hood. I would swing from my bed, sometimes hanging off the stuffed animal clip chain attached to my ceiling (until it was no longer attached to the ceiling), in a flowing red polka dot dress properly adorned with a blanket veil and a long, twisting string of faux pearls.

There’s this scene in Love Actually that I really hate. Colin Firth plays a famous author working on a new book at his Italian villa overlooking a scenic lake. It always makes me cringe. Not the part where the wind blows his precious manuscript into the lake or the part where he dives into the freezing water to save it. What bugs me is the idea that somewhere in the world there are writers with lakeside villas.

As writers, we know that the first draft of our work won’t be…the best. Characters aren’t fleshed out. Plot hole are large and in charge. Spelling and grammar have taken the day off. But as an impatient, perfectionist picture book writer, I wanted everything I wrote to be publication-worthy on my first try. Since that’s impossible, I found myself putting off first drafts for as long as possible.