 In the messy, beautiful trenches of writing a novel, doubt and impatience are constant companions. For many of us, the slow crawl of a work-in-progress can trigger shame, impostor syndrome, and quiet grief over how little outsiders understand the journey. In this candid Q&A, author Radu Paun opens up about his own path through these struggles—from his epic-length first manuscript and the querying trenches to the hard-won lessons in patience, self-worth, and creative surrender. With refreshing honesty and hard-earned wisdom, Radu shares what it really takes to keep writing when progress feels painfully slow, and how to find joy and value in the process.  Have you ever felt ashamed of how long your WIP is taking? What shifted that shame for you? Absolutely, especially my first WIP. Looking back it wasn’t actually that bad (it took me just shy of 2 years to finish my first novel), but I had no basis for comparison. It also didn’t help that I was writing an epic fantasy. At the time I watched a video of an author (can’t remember who) saying that, of the millions of people who want to write a book, less than 1% do so. What helped me was knowing that, though slowly, I was still making progress. I knew that every word I wrote got me closer to being among those 1% who finished a book. What do you grieve about the writing life that most people don’t see or talk about? The lack of familiarity with the publishing process. There’s plenty of information out there, but if you aren’t trying to walk this path, it just isn’t something you’d know (which makes sense). That’s why when someone hears you’re writing a book, you can see that question forming behind their eyes: “so when will it be published?” And then I have to choose. I can either launch into a long explanation about agents, querying, going on submission, publishers, royalties (all the moving parts) or I can just smile and say “I’ll let you know when it’s out.” I don’t expect everyone to understand the ins and outs of publishing, and I know they all mean well. It’s just one of those things that’s harder to explain than it seems, and a little lonely because of that. At what point did you first allow yourself to call yourself a writer? Did that feel scary or presumptuous? How do you combat those feelings of imposter syndrome when they try to creep up again? I think I was about 100k words into my first novel (I did say it was an epic). Sometime around that mark I saw the book coming together and let myself believe in the dream. Did it feel scary? A little. But it also felt earned. After all, no one sits down to write those words for you. Whenever impostor syndrome creeps up on me, I try to channel it constructively: when I doubt myself, I just reread some of the last pages I’ve written. I usually find myself nodding along and thinking ‘oh yeah, I’d buy this book’. Impostor syndrome gets real quiet soon after.  Need an expert critique of your query letter, synopsis, novel/manuscript, or nonfiction book proposal? We have you covered. Check out our critique options and many success stories who found literary agents after working with us. If your value as a writer wasn’t measured by publication, queries, or word count, how would you describe your worth right now? Do you have a personal mantra that helps? I’d still rate my worth quite highly. Instead of tying it to publication goals or queries, I tie it to the pleasure I get when I create a great character, an emotional grenade, a clever plot twist or a satisfying payoff. Those are tangible (to me) and within my control. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve produced so far. I’ve been in the querying trenches for a while now, and it’s been… humbling, to say the least. Defining your worth by the wrong metric will only make this road harder. I have no mantra to speak of, but I did decide that I would keep writing, even if I don’t get published. That decision took the weight off, and let me enjoy the process. What’s a mistake you’ve made in this writing process that you’ve since forgiven yourself for? The wordcount of my fisrt novel. It was WAY too long to be considered for a debut novel. I kept thinking that if the writing’s good, someone will give it a chance. Was I in for a rude awakening… Not only was it too long, but while I was querying it I didn’t begin working on something else. I don’t regret writing the first book. But I regret the time I didn’t spend working on something else while I queried. But such is life. I’ve learned my lesson, forgiven myself for taking so long to learn it, and wrote a second book (this time with an acceptable word count). What has this book taught you about patience, surrender, or acceptance? “Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. You gotta have patience.” Everyone says it. By the time I wrote the first words I’d heard it a thousand times. I knew it. But I didn’t understand it until I saw that even a good day’s writing can mean 0.5% progress towards your estimated wordcount. I learned to have patience while I wrote, to surrender to the process, and to accept that I won’t finish a book after a weekend of grinding.  Want to sell more books and market yourself? Check out the guide CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. The book explains how to build an audience, understand social media basics, sell more books, increase promotion & publicity, get engaged online, and much more. When you imagine the person you’ll be after this manuscript is truly finished (regardless of publication), what do you hope has changed inside you? By now I’ve already finished two manuscripts. I will say, there’s no feeling quite like writing ‘the end’. Years of late night writing, head scratching, note taking, and ungodly amounts of caffeine all coalescing into something that once only existed in my head. Something I can now share with others. I think what’s changed in me when I finished my first novel was the knowledge that I could do this. I stuck it out and wrote a book. I had what it took. And I could do it again. Which I did. And which I will do again. If this book remains unpublished forever, what would you need to believe to still feel you had spent your life well? I still finished a book, which is an achievement in and of itself. I’ll always have the satisfaction of a job well done. And besides, I wrote what I would have loved to read. My inner child/teenager is beaming. I’m sure there are others out there who will also appreciate my work. If traditional publishing doesn’t work out, there’s always self publishing. Getting my stories out there for people to enjoy is what it’s all about, after all. What rituals or tools help you stay productive without burning out? I track my wordcount religiously. Seriously. Every day that I write something for a novel I track the wordcount. Some days I wrote 6k words (okay, I only managed this once), other days I wrote 30 words, and sometimes I had a negative wordcount (I revised something I had written the day before which I didn’t like). But it helps me keep myself accountable. After all, every word I write is a word I didn’t have the day before. And even 30 words a day eventually add up. What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about love—love of story, love of self, or love of the work—through this unpublished season? There’s definitely a lot of love to go around. I learned that the reason I keep doing this is the love of telling stories. And to do that well, you have to love the work. Yes, even the editing (we all know editing’s where lead turns to gold). And finally, you have to love yourself enough to accept that writing a book is not a straight line. You will stumble and fall. You will get lost along the way, and maybe find a new way altogether. The story can ‘grow in the telling’ (J.R.R. Tolkien) and you need to let it. But you have to give yourself the grace to learn, and trust that it will all work out somehow.  Radu Paun was born in Romania, grew up in China and finalized his studies in the Netherlands. Now he is an auditor by day and a writer by night, his work fueled by the alchemy of caffeine and the magical canal views of Amsterdam. When not reading and writing, Radu enjoys spending time with friends over boardgames, martial arts, obstacle courses, drinking coffee and petting any dog in sight. You can find out more at https://radupaun.com/  This post was complied by Brandy Vallance, a literary agent with Barbara Bova Literary Agency, an award-winning author, and a Story Consultant for Writing Day Workshops. Brandy is the winner of two national writing awards, one of which included a $20,000 prize. Her novel, THE COVERED DEEP, has been featured in USA Today & Writer’s Digest. WITHIN THE VEIL has been called “passionate and riveting” and Publisher’s Weekly encourages those who like sweeping Scottish sagas to dive in because “the journey is wonderful.” Brandy loves helping writers break the chains of fear and self-doubt. You can find out more at brandyvallance.com.  Pitch Agents at a Writers Conference in 2026:
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