I’ve been writing for about 18 months now I’ve learned a lot. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but most importantly, I’ve kept going. I thought I would share a quick update about where I’m at in my writing journey.
Writing the ME Draft
My main goal is to get out of my own head and simply write; to allow the first draft to be just for me.
When I first started writing I found myself constantly comparing my first draft to the finished books I was reading. I found myself asking “why can’t I write like that?” And it was discouraging, and as a result I struggled to make progress on any writing project.
No matter what I did. I couldn’t convince myself to just write, that it was okay that my first draft was less than perfect. And they are less than perfect, they’re pretty bad actually.
Then I read an essay by Anne Lamott in which she discussed the value of crappy first drafts (although she uses more colorful language). After that I found this quote on Pinterest: “write down everything you know about the story and the second time make it look like you know what you’re doing.”
The more I researched the more I discovered how normal it is to have a bad first draft of your story. Something truly heinous that doesn’t even resemble a book.
I’ve taken to calling my first draft my “me draft.” Meaning, this is just for me.
Nobody else will ever read this version of my story, only me. Which means it can be cheesy, cliche, riddled with grammatical errors, and downright bad. As long as I have fun writing it, that’s all that matters.
And when I get to the end of the ‘me’ draft I’ll decide if I want to take that draft through an editing process to polish it up and make it ready for other people, or if it will stay a ‘me’ draft.
I admit it – I’m a pantser
I’ve also recently discovered that I’m a pantser through and through.
If you’ve never heard that term it simply means that when I write, I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. I don’t want to plot anything out or make an outline. Most of the time I don’t even name side characters, I simply develop a loose premise, name my two main characters, and start writing.
I’ve found that for me this brings a lot of joy and creativity back into the process of story telling. It was also my first instinct when I began writing, I just sat down and began writing without a care in the world. It wasn’t until I got about half way through that first manuscript that I panicked because the story line had become inconsistent. I told myself that it was because I was a novice and clearly needed an outline.
So I began outlining and plotting; creating moodboards and play lists. All the things to help me know and understand my story before I started writing it.
And with that process, my joy and excitement died a slow, agonizing death. Pretty soon I was forcing myself to write every day and I dreaded it. I wanted to quit.
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with outlining (or moldboards and playlists), I realized that I have the most fun writing when I’m discovering the whole story for the first time. So I decided to make sure that the first time I told myself a story, I was going to get it all down on paper as a draft, not an outline.
Weirdly, this has also helped me get out of my head and be more present in my days. Instead of constantly mulling over my latest work in progress so I can get the next part just right, I write one scene and then shut the laptop. And that’s it. I don’t think about my story until I open the manuscript again.
I’ve also discovered that I really enjoy editing, which is a good thing since my first drafts need a great deal of editing. A lot of authors hate the editing process, so they outline ahead of time to help reduce the amount of editing they’ll need to do.
I, on the other hand, love opening up a piece of writing I spilled onto a page weeks or even months ago, and reading it with fresh eyes. It’s fun to see the story I came up with and try to improve it.
So, I’m fully leaning into the pantsing thing. I’m currently working on a manuscript and I literally have no idea what’s going to happen scene for scene. I have a general idea of the plot, but that’s it. And I’m having more fun writing than I have in a while.
Finding My Voice
It took me a while to find my own writing voice. When I began I basically just mimicked what I was reading, which made sense because I was reading A LOT of romcoms. But when I go back and read some of those stories, they don’t sound like me. They don’t have my sense of humor or my unique worldview.
Plus, they weren’t the stories I wanted to tell. And that surprised me.
I’d never thought about wiring before. I didn’t think I had the ability to do it. And it never occurred to me that I could learn how to write, so I just never tried.
Then I started writing and I never took the time to think about the kinds of stories that I wanted to tell or how I wanted my voice to be represented in the world.
I just figured it would be sweet & clean romance, so I went for it. Well, kind of….
The very first manuscript I ever attempted, the one I mentioned above and I said that I panicked because I got half way through and didn’t know where the story was going? It wasn’t a sweet & clean romance.
*gasp*
I know. I was just as shocked as you are. It’s also part of the reason why I stopped, because I had this big plot twist and I thought, “where in the world did that come from?”
Now don’t panic- it certainly wasn’t a dark romance or anything with spice. The story itself was still clean, the romance in the story was sweet (although more angsty than I would have imagined), but it wasn’t a cute romcom that’s for sure.
Since then I’ve really explored why that was my first instinct (and no, I’m not telling you what that is….not yet) and the kinds of stories I really want to tell.
And I’m happy to say that as of recent I have finally, FINALLY embraced the way stories come to me in my brain. I’ve stopped comparing myself to other writers and I’m leaning into MY stories.
What are MY stories? Well, you’re going to have to wait to find out. *cue slightly evil laughter*
Writing Flash Fiction
A while back I discovered flash fiction (you can read more about it here). It’s basically super short fiction, and by short I mean 1,000 words.
For reference, your typical full length romance novel is going to be close to 80,000 words.
Flash fiction is a lot of fun to write, it gives me a way to explore all the little ideas that pop into my head that I don’t have time to fully tease out into a story; or to write a scene that sounds cute but won’t fit into my current manuscript.
I’ve also read from many, many experts on the value of writing short fiction. It allows you to get a quick win and to practice your story telling over and over again.
I wrote a piece and submitted it to an online magazine. It was not accepted, but that’s okay. I’ll try again.
And in the mean time, I’m continuing to write flash fiction and short stories and I’m having a blast! I even published my first flash fiction piece on my website! It’s called Cinnamon Tee Time and tells the story of a single dad who *finally* realizes he has feelings for the nanny.
Looking Forward for the Remainder of 2025
Most days I wish I had more time to write all the stories constantly bobbing around in my head, but then I remind myself that slow and steady wins the race.
I have a lot of plans and hopes and goals. More than I ever thought I would for writing fiction.
I’m genuinely surprised by how much I enjoy writing, and while I do hope to publish one day, I’m also just enjoying the process.
Here are my main goals for the rest of 2025:
- keep writing and learning as much as I can
- finish the full length manuscript I’m currently writing
- to write and submit three more flash fiction stories
- and I have a secret project I’m working on….more on that in the coming months!
That’s it. I’m trying to keep it super simple for myself right now. I’m also trying to read a lot wider than I have before. Meaning, I’m trying to read in more genres (all clean reads, of course) and from well written authors.
I’ve found that one of the best things I can do to learn to write better, is to read from authors who know how to tell a good story. And that works out nicely because if there’s one activity I love as much as writing, it’s reading.