8teensworld Barely -

The pressure to be perfect felt like a tight sweater in the middle of summer. She wanted to rip it off, to just be messy, to fail at something without it feeling like the end of the world. But everyone said this was the "important time."

She thought about the advice she’d read on a writing blog — If you’re stuck, stop trying to write a 'good' story. Write the story you need to hear. 8teensworld barely

She wiped her palms on her jeans and deleted the paragraph she’d spent an hour on. She stopped trying to use complex words and started typing the raw thoughts she’d been holding in. The pressure to be perfect felt like a