At the start of 2023 I decided to set myself a goal to write a novel by the end of the year, but not just any novel, one that would be everything I wished for in a book. As a book reviewer and critic I read a wide variety of fiction and am often underwhelmed by the fact that many books have a captivating blurb and flashy cover jacket but are often style over substance. I think the rise of Booktok has a lot to answer for, with many bloggers recommending books that are poorly written and follow many of the same tropes and cliches of the past. Not all booktok recs are bad but I see a lot of novels that overpromise and underdeliver, so I am on a literary mission to write and publish a fantasy adult novel by December 2023. I’ve decided to reflect on what I’ve learnt about writing a novel, aspirations for the future and how I’ve approached the process.
50k down and counting
By May 2023, I was at around 10,000 words that was hanging together by a thread. The idea was there, but how I pieced these scenes together was questionable. I started writing the first two chapters in January and took a little break while I worked on other creative projects but the ideas were marinating in my head at night, when walking the dog and my head was a continual cooking pot of ideas. From the start I had a theme of fantasy but low that has a semblance of realism, while the world I made up isn’t a complicated magic system or words that are hard to pronounce – which is very common with high fantasy novels.
Scenes and character interactions would come to me in spurts and I would frantically write these down on the notes on my phone in a bid to capture that magic juice of creativity. So before I knew it I was progressing the plot without even realising! In July I undertook at Work Experience Placement at Penguin – you can read my thoughts here – I was suddenly invigorated to finish my novel and get my head back in the game. I wanted to be one of those authors with a beloved book on the shelves providing joy, humour and escapism to so many readers. I began focusing on what I had already and continued adding when I felt inspired. It was not until I stumbled across several unpublished novel competitions that I wanted to try and put my work out there. Now I knew that what I had already was not finished nor in any fit state to be worthy of seeing the light of day but I felt confident in having a go even if things didn’t work out – spoiler alert I didn’t win one, others are pending. I always feel self-conscious when showing my creative writing to people as I think these pieces are very personal, they shed a light on my thoughts, feelings and how I view the world that transpire into my characters. Nevertheless, I pushed back that anxiety to submit an extract and synopsis on my novel. This was the motivation I needed to really push my writing goals and set aside formal time to do this. In August I decided to clear the decks of my creative projects and dedicate every week day to my writing, with a goal of 2,000 words a day and 10,000 words a week! I wanted to see how much I could write undisturbed by other creative distractions. Now I’m 50K into my novel and cannot stop, the ideas are flowing and I have to drag myself away from the computer.
Things I’ve Learnt
When I started this process I thought it might be a pipe-dream that wouldn’t materialise to anything physical, however here I am 50K in and counting with a fire to get this book into the world! I learnt to not feel guilty for not feeling inspired, not writing consistently and that I will laugh out loud at some of my writing and dialogue. I learnt that my fingers will hurt from repeatedly tapping onto the keyboard and I will develop a tired twitch in my right eye that just adds to the author persona. I also learnt how much I love writing and creative exploration and I sometimes wonder why I ever stopped writing stories throughout school or higher education. I have also discovered that in my bid to find my passion after graduating from University and after spending a lot of time trying to gain experience, I want to be an author, I want to create stories that will inspire, engage and make readers feel less lonely. Finally, I have also discovered that I will wake up in a cold sweat with a fear that I will forget that very good idea I had when I drifting off to sleep, which does nothing to help my twitch!
Next steps to victory
So what are my next steps? well I want to continue writing until I reach around 100,000 words and then edit, edit, edit until I reach a final draft. Once I have read this manuscript to the point I have an accompanying twitch in the other eye I will search and approach UK literary agents to represent my work and help me find a publisher who would love to find a readership for a novel that is home to a violently impulsive female protagonist and her clueless sidekick!
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