An Open Letter To Those Who Are Struggling to Write Their First Book
By Eva Lesko Natiello
A first-time novelist wrote to me the other day about her manuscript. I’ve received this email many times from many different writers. I’ve even been the sender of this email—years before I published my first book.
The letter goes like this:
“I wrote a book. It’s a disaster. I’ve never done this before. I had this idea. It took me forever. It took years. It took blood, sweat, tears and a divorce (not really a divorce, but let’s just say there was sacrifice). I don’t know if it’s any good. I can’t share it with anyone. I think I’m wasting my time. Maybe I should stop. Maybe this is silly. Who’d want to publish this? Who’d want to read this? I’m ignoring my friends. Hiding from my family. I’ll never find an agent. I’ll never find a publisher. People tell me it’s too long. I’ve cut it to the bare bones. I can’t cut anymore. Can I? I can’t. When do I know if it’s finished? I just cut some more. Hmm, this is pretty good. Change the ending? Cut the beginning? Who’s advice do I follow? I can’t take any more feedback! This sucks. I can’t do this anymore. I’m depressed. I give up! Should I give up? I can’t look at it again. I buried it in the backyard. It’s over.”
And here is my reply:
You did the hard part. You had an idea, and you turned it into a book. Congratulations! That’s a big deal. Not many people can do that. Okay, so it’s too long. Or, you’ve used too many adverbs. Or too much telling and not enough showing. Or there’s repetition, excessive description or boring parts. Or, maybe it’s missing something. So what.
Did you expect to write a perfect first draft? Don’t give up now. You wrote the thing. The hardest part about writing a book is staring at the blank page. Pen in hand. Poised in the air. Trembling. Mind vacant. Mouth open. Writing is hard. It’s a slog fest. Some days you’re excited, some days you’re in despair. But, you have words on the page now. Black on white, baby! I can tell you from experience that it’s much harder to edit all white.
It’s okay to take a break. You need to fill up the tank. Read, read, read. Read books that are so fantastic all you want to do is write! And a spark of excitement will return for that book of yours.
Each page is a victory and deserves a happy dance. And a margarita. Okay, maybe not after every page, but I do believe you should reward your progress.
There are millions more unfinished books in the world than there are finished books. What pile do you want yours on?
You can finish this. Get your book into the best shape you’re able to. Honor your hard work. You owe yourself that respect. Do it one page at a time (like all the greats do). Each page is a victory and deserves a happy dance. And a margarita. Okay, maybe not after every page, but I do believe you should reward your progress.
So make a deal with yourself. Go straight to the backyard, dig out your manuscript and dust it off. Read the first page and edit it. You won’t need to reward yourself because you’ll feel so thrilled that you’re taking the first step toward not giving up, it will propel you to edit page two. And then page three. Soon enough you’ll need a reward because it will get hard fast. That’s okay. One page at a time. Dig deep. It will feel good. Like the good pain of a 20-minute ab workout when all you really want to do is eat a cupcake.
Nothing will feel as good as the last page, I can tell you that. And when you get there I’ll do a happy dance with you. What now? Is it finished? You may need to revise again until it’s as strong as you can make it. Then it’s time to enlist the help of a professional editor. Turn it over to someone who’ll help sculpt it in the most flattering ways. And there will be no looking back. Only looking forward.
Good luck — I know you can do it!
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Eva Lesko Natiello is the New York Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers The Memory Box and Following You. She is also a publishing and book marketing consultant and speaker.