A Little Bit of Advice…
Writing advice? For the longest time being an author was a dream of mine but I felt like I’d never really achieve it. Like yeah, it’d be cool but it’s not really going to happen. So like so many projects I put my writing on the back burner. Being creative, I always had a story in my mind, but I never really did anything about them. Most of them faded into the dark recess of my mind as I lost interest. About a year ago I found an old draft on my google docs. It was a few years old and only about three pages. It was an interesting read with an equally interesting premise. I decided to dust off the cobwebs and rewrite it. To my surprise, I actually got pretty far about 14 pages before I ran into a plot hole. I had never written that much of a story before. I was then approached by a company to publish my book through Linkedin. I had doubts: like I wouldn’t have enough content or my story was just too weird, or maybe no one would like it. Then I met my developmental editor, she encouraged me to tell my story and told me how she thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Of course like any piece it needed work but it was all coming together. Then soon after I had the first draft. Then a third. And that’s where I find myself. Editing and preparing my book for the world.
Through that journey, I learned many things.
First, if you want to be an author, call yourself one. It sounds strange but telling other people you are an author and are going through your author journey locks you into the process. Now you have people expecting you to write and see your content. People will want to hear about your progress and soon people who also have a similar dream start to ask and depend on your for advice. When I first started saying I was an author it felt so weird, I mean I didn’t have a book out yet but here I am calling myself an author, but soon I began to own that title because come hell or high water I was going to be an author. I needed to build confidence in myself to be what I dreamed of.
Secondly, you need to write. I know really straightforward, but I’m serious. You need to dedicate yourself to your writing. I’m not talking about writing every three months or so, just write. I’m not going to say write every day because life is busy but at least try to write for three hours every week. You’ll actually begin to see your story build and become a tale that you weaved. I know when I was told to write at least four hours a week I thought that isn’t too hard it’s only four hours, but balancing school and work soon put my writing time through the wringer. The one I didn’t do though was quit. I forced myself to make time and write and I even found myself getting done with my first draft weeks before my deadline.
My last piece of advice is to make some friends. Writing is hard. I mean you are creating something from nothing. A blank piece of paper that will transport a reader to a world of your imagination. Doing writing by yourself is hard not to mention lonely. So I went out into the online community. I struggled at first to find writing friends but I soon realized finding writing friends was a lot like being in preschool. Just reach out and say hi. The worst someone can do is ignore you and that’s their loss. I don’t have too many writing friends (I only have 2) but the awesome thing about my writing friends is that I have in-depth conversations and they help me grow as a writer. I voice my frustrations and my friends listen and give advice. They help me make decisions and I am forever grateful.
Being an author is an amazing yet frustrating journey, but it is something that will forever change your life. I am so grateful for my writing journey and my resiliency. If I hadn’t decided on becoming a writer my life would feel so empty as it had in the past. So I tell you: don’t be afraid to face your fears and tackle that big project you’ve been fantasizing over. You won’t regret it.
