Writing my first novel
Writing the words "the end" for my first draft manuscript in 2022 was a triumph! It represented the end of months of procrastination in getting the story written. I enjoyed that moment with a tiny little celebration. I was ready; let's publish this. Little did I know this was the first step in a MUCH longer journey toward having a manuscript ready for publishing.
Let's step back to the beginning. The earliest ideas for my novel started in the summer of 2020, after I had shared some stories with friends of my dating experiences later in life. The funniest among these stories was a recent set of interactions I had on a series of blind dates over Zoom. Yes, you read that correctly–blind speed dating over Zoom! A disaster and waste of my time. And it made me question, is it possible to find great love after a certain age? Can I write stories of hope that don't sugarcoat the realities of life while offering a glimpse into a world where love still prevails?
These questions sparked the idea of writing a novel series about an older couple. I came to realize that dating after 50 has its challenges. And when you couple these challenges with all the things that can happen over a lifetime, it makes for a rich tapestry of storytelling. But, I had never written a full novel. I wondered: what are the first steps?
I love learning new things and taking on challenges that help me step out of my comfort zone. I did not know how to go about writing a manuscript for publishing and so after a few attempts to use guidance from articles I found on the internet, I enrolled in a course in 2021 through Coursera "Write Your First Draft". This course helped to jump-start my early story plot and character development and a few first chapters of my book. I didn't stick with the course, as the format was awkward with very limited feedback from the instructor and other course attendees.
The concepts for the novel sat on my computer for a few more months until when in 2022 I spoke to my daughter about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). NaNoWriMo happens every November. The goal of this event is to write every day for 30 days to complete a 50k word draft manuscript. What was interesting is that she was also writing a novel, and had joined NaNoWriMo that year to complete her draft.
The game changer came when she introduced me to E.A. Deverell, who has a whole series of articles on their website (https://www.eadeverell.com/) and a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@EvaDeverell). My excitement also grew learning about their Preptober setup (a 30-day October preparation for NaNoWriMo in November). This included a Notion site I could use to track my progress for Preptober as I continued to develop my plot, characters, and major story lines in preparation to complete the 50k word writing challenge in November.
My daughter and I set out with a plan to set aside quiet time at home and to reserve private rooms at the local library and go there as often as possible to prep for our novels and to write our novels. Thank you, sweet one, for this inspiration! Because of you, I'm now well on the road to publishing the first novel in my planned series.
I was overjoyed after completing NaNoWriMo in 2022! This worked for me, I thought, so let me use their next steps in getting ready to publish the novel. I set about using the Revise & Polish ideas they offered and I got stuck. The advice to re-write the entire novel from scratch was bad advice for me. This may work for others, but it deterred me and derailed my progress for another year! I was disappointed with myself at the start/stop and lack of progress through 2023. My daughter and friends said, what the hell? Ditch that idea and work on self-editing what you have already written. I followed this advice and then took a few steps further to hold myself accountable.
In 2024, my word for the year was "consistency." How could I become more consistent and accountable to my goals to publish the first novel in my series? I dedicated time daily to writing, refining, editing, and polishing my first draft. After many draft iterations, I was finally at draft #5. And of course, I stuttered a bit and fell off the wagon of consistency.
Then I found my niche to hold myself accountable. I started with a writing channel on Twitch and YouTube. You see, knowing others also depended on this focused time for writing, made me more determined to hold that space for us - a community of writers and readers - on a consistent schedule. I started doing this in July 2024 and by the end of December 2024, not only had I completed my self edits, my manuscript was in the hands of a professional editor for line editing and I had a roadmap to self publish my book in 2025!
My journey wasn't a straight line, nor did I have a well-defined playbook to get me here. I was learning the ropes, and my journey was a hot mess. I had a few false starts along the way. Three things took me over the slump:
Finding a cheerleader (or two or three)
Becoming consistent and holding myself accountable
Sharing goals with community to support and uplift each other along the way
I can't express how eager I am for 2025! Another successful triumph will be when I hold my published novel in my hands. I'll cherish that moment and not get lost in the marketing and promotion work that will lie ahead to make it a successful book series launch.
So yeah, another important thing to remember: Always celebrate the small and big wins!
With peace, love, and positivity - EK Rose
Disclaimer: This article is a personal reflection and not an endorsement of any kind. The people, services and products mentioned in this post are purely there to tell my story. I have not been paid or received any compensation of any kind for my opinions. As I always say, do your own research and choose the path that works best for you.
