First Time Author
5 years ago, if you had sat me down and told me I would be writing a book at 19 that will be published around my 20th birthday, my 14 year old self would laugh in your face.
Don’t get me wrong, I have always been a writer. Between sitting in my room stapling printer paper together and drawing out every aspect of a comic books about a flying super hero monkey, and sitting in the back of history class pretending to be taking notes on my laptop while actually writing a story on google slides with my friend, I have always been a writer. It’s now come full circle and bitten me in the butt.
Here I am, 19 and writing an entire book for the first time in my life (an now writing a blog).
It would seem like being an author is simple; think of an idea and just write it. That happens to be exactly what my thoughts were because that is always what I’ve done in the past. Of course, that is one way to write a book, but if you’re anything like me, you’re extremely hard on yourself and need that little extra push as a reminder that you are a good writer.
I joined a writing program after a friend had recommended it to me and put in a word for me. I was beyond nervous. I’m not a good talker, as you’ll see in my about page, so joining a zoom call with a well known author and professor was the last thing I had in mind when it came to writing and publishing a book.
I took the leap, now I’m stuck writing a book, and I love it.
Of course I stumble along the way, of course I have no clue what I’m doing, but isn’t that all apart of the fun? Writing isn’t writing unless you’re truly pushing yourself to write something you love and that is exactly what I’m here to do.
Writing a book is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have a weekly schedule every week. Wednesdays I have a call with my editor to make sure I’m staying on track and hitting my personal goal I believe I can hit, then I end up feeling motivated enough to write an entire chapter in one day. Thursday is tricky. I either feel motivated to keep working on my goals, or I feel good enough about Wednesday and how productive I was that I decide I can take a break. Friday through Sunday is that extended break. Then comes Monday and Tuesday where I begin to feel like I’ve been slacking off and I scramble to complete the rest of my goals.
I know, I’m practically a professional.
That’s just it though. No one is perfect all the time. My mom’s Author friend knows procrastination all too well but has successfully published about 8 books now I believe. My friend who is in college, the one who was in the program before me, is currently publishing and selling copies of her book, and we all know college students would get an A if procrastination were a class.
I get my work done though. What works, works.
The hardest part for me, however, is keeping all my thoughts cohesive and organized. As someone who has a brain constantly going 100mph, it’s sometimes hard to hit the breaks. That’s what my editor helps with.
However, it can be a blessing and a curse to have so many helping hands always trying to hit reverse. It can feel like your idea’s are not good enough when it really is, it just needs to be fleshed out more. It can feel like you’re not moving forward from always going back to edit or rewrite when really that is what will help you propel further in a more stead pace instead of writing it all out, having it not make sense, and needing to rewrite the whole thing.
There is a lot to writing a book I never knew before and I am beyond happy to have the help, to have other voices letting me know I am on the write track to writing a book I can be happy of and proud of.
Although I have always been a writer, I have never been brave enough to share anything with the world. Not one poem, not one mini story. Only hints and little snippets of what I am capable of. I’m not one to flaunt or be proud of what I do.
This book is my step into confidence in what I do. It’s a step forward on the path of finding things I can be proud of that I’ve done creatively. Something I wont have to cringe at when I come back to it in the future.
Currently, I have my entire book planned out, all my characters pretty much fleshed out, a title, and about 5 chapter drafts written out, along with the beginnings of an introduction.
This is extremely exciting for me, I hope it’s something people love to read and care about. I really hope someone get’s something out of it.
