If You’re Uncomfortable, You’re Probably in the Right Place.

There’s a moment I come back to a lot when I’m writing a character. It’s not the moment they save the day, or fall in love, or say something profound in the rain. It’s the moment just before that, when they want to bolt.

They’re sitting in the back of a meeting room. Or standing alone at a party where they know no one. Or staring down the hallway that leads to a job interview, a confession, a fight. Their stomach is twisting. Their palms are damp. They are, unequivocally, uncomfortable.

And that, I’ve learned, is usually where the story begins.

As a writer, I used to think discomfort meant I was doing something wrong. If a scene made me squirm or hesitate, I’d backpedal. I’d edit out the awkward line, rewrite the confrontation, dodge the risky choice. I didn’t want to “get it wrong.” I wanted it to flow. I wanted it to feel easy.

But characters don’t grow in ease. They grow in unease.

So I started leaning in.

The more I wrote from the uncomfortable places, the more honest my writing became. When I let a character sit in their doubt, fumble their words, admit something they shouldn’t—or stay quiet when they should’ve spoken, I found the pulse of the story. I stopped writing for polish and started writing for truth.

And here’s where it gets personal, the same thing goes for us.

Discomfort isn’t always a red flag. Sometimes it’s the exact signpost you need. It’s your body whispering, you’re stepping out of the familiar. You’re growing. You’re risking. You’re becoming something else.

It feels wrong because it isn’t what you’ve always done.

If you’re a writer, or really, anyone in the process of becoming, then being uncomfortable is a feature, not a flaw. It’s part of the process. You’re shaping something new. And that takes friction.

Characters resist it. So do we. But if I’ve learned anything from the people I put on the page, it’s this: the moments they squirm, crack, break a little, those are the ones I remember. That’s when I fall for them. That’s when they become real.

If you’re feeling uncomfortable right now, good. Don’t rush to escape it. Write it down if you have to.

Because maybe you’re not in the wrong place.

Maybe, just maybe, you’re finally in the right one.