My third novel, The Beached Ones, is coming out with CamCat Books next week—which got me thinking back to my first novel.
Of course, I can’t reverse time and change things now. And I wouldn’t want to. My first novel launched my fiction writing career, and I’m grateful for everything that happened with it.
But with the benefit of hindsight, I can see several things that might have helped me progress a little faster.
In case they may benefit you, I’ve written them down here.
First Novel Tip #1. Story structure is key.
Like most new writers, when I was writing my first novel, I just wanted to write. I loved getting lost in my stories, and I had a good idea of my characters, setting, and plot.
What I didn’t know much about, though, was story structure. Had I found ways to educate myself on this sooner, I think my writing would have progressed much more quickly.
Story structure is the spine on which your story must rest. Young writers don’t understand how important it is. They have an intuitive knowledge of stories because they’ve grown up with them. But being able to enjoy a good story is not at all the same as being able to create one.
Imagine going on a home tour. You know which homes feel comfortable and welcoming. But that doesn’t mean you’d know how to build such a home.
And as writers, we must build our stories. Having a “way with words,” an easy ability with dialogue, and a mind full of ideas doesn’t substitute for understanding the steps you need to take to build a successful story.
Tip: Read books, take classes, and seek out mentoring to improve your story structure. Here are three of my favorite books on the subject to get you started:
- Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
- 20 Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias
- The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
2. Self-doubt will kick your butt if you don’t learn more about it.
Most writers experience self-doubt at one time or another. New writers can be slowed down or even stopped by it and not even realize what it is that’s hindering them.
As a young writer, I was plagued with self-doubt. I had no reason to think that I could be a published novelist. No one in my family was one. I had no background as a writer, nor did I have a degree in writing. I just wanted to write, so I did.
But I also really wanted to be published (traditionally). The dream was so important to me that I figured if only I could get a novel published, I would die happy!
But living alongside that dream was what I call the self-doubt monster, and he was sabotaging me at every step.
Self-Doubt Is Sneaky and Destructive
The problem was that I didn’t recognize this monster as something I needed to be aware of and defeat. I just believed whatever he said. And his comments in my brain went something like this:
You’re never going to succeed. Who are you to think you can be a published novelist? This is a waste of time. You don’t have the talent for this. There are a lot of other writers who are a lot more talented. You have to be a lot smarter than you are to be a novelist. You should be doing something useful instead.
I believed it all. Because the dream was so powerful in my heart, I kept going anyway.
Looking back, I can see that self-doubt slowed me down—a lot. It kept me from submitting my work and from devoting the type of resources to it that I needed.
Tip: Realize that self-doubt is not the truth, but a habit in thinking. Work to counteract those negative thoughts in your head. Replace them with positive, motivating thoughts that inspire you to do more in service to your writing dream. Nothing is more important than your belief in yourself.
For more help, see my book, Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, which has an entire chapter devoted to self-doubt, or Your Writing Matters, which helps you determine once and for all whether you should be a writer.
First Novel Tip #3. Your author platform needs time, so start now.
I started writing back in the late 1990s and grew even more serious about it in the early 2000s. Back then, I knew nothing about building an author platform. In my defense, there weren’t a lot of people talking about it then.
Then print-on-demand arrived and self-publishing boomed. At the same time, publishers were consolidating and bookstores closing. As I was focused on trying to become the best writer I could be, the publishing industry was changing all around me.
I received my first traditional publishing contract in 2013. I waited until then to even begin working on an author platform. And I didn’t do a very good job at it. I started blogging, but I didn’t have a clear niche, so I wasn’t attracting readers. Plus I didn’t know how to share my blog on social media very well.
My second novel came out in 2016. By then, I had learned quite a bit more about building an author platform, but as any writer will tell you, there is always more to learn, and the industry is always changing.
The one thing that stays constant, though, is this: building an author platform takes time. There’s just no way around that. You have to build your reputation as a writer with readers, and that means putting yourself out there again and again over a long period—I’m talking years.
Tip: Understand that it’s never too early to start building your author platform. What does that mean? Introduce yourself and your writing to new people. You can do that in a myriad of ways, but you must do it consistently. For more information on how to do that—plus tips on how to find your perfect niche—see Writer Get Noticed!
4. No writing is ever wasted.
I would love to have back all the time I worried about writing stories that would never see the light of day.
I used to think that if a story or novel wasn’t published, it had been a waste of time. And we all have very little time to waste these days!
That sort of thinking created a battle inside me. While working on a piece of writing, I found myself asking, Is it good enough? Will this one be published? Or should I try another idea?
This is self-sabotage at its worst, of course, as thoughts like these only interfered with the story I was trying to write.
I know now that every piece of writing I’ve completed has helped me become the writer I am today. It’s all good practice. Plus, the more you write, the more you find your unique voice as a writer. And that’s important because it can help set you apart from other writers on the market.
Tip: Relax! Write what you want to write. Let it flow through your fingers. Understand that you need the practice and that what you write today will lead you to the stories you will write tomorrow. Let it be, follow the muse, and enjoy the ride.
First Novel Tip #5. At a certain point, submitting becomes as important as writing.
With the value of hindsight, I can see that had I understood the “game of submitting,” I might have gotten my first publishing contract sooner than I did.
It’s a delicate dance. When you’re first starting out, you want to focus on becoming a better writer and building your author platform. You can submit your work at any time, of course, but if you’re writing novels, you may find that you have long stretches where you’re writing a lot but not submitting much.
And that’s okay…up to a certain point.
There comes a time in every writer’s career when the writing reaches a “publishable” level. You’ve managed to create a story that a publisher would be willing to take on. That’s when you need to make time in your schedule to submit…a lot.
How do you know you’ve reached that level? There are a few clues you can look for.
Clues You’re Ready to Dive Into Submitting
Maybe you’ve written one or two novels already, and this one is your third, and you just feel like this one is it. You’ve learned a lot, and this story seems to be hanging together a lot better than your past stories.
Or maybe you’ve received recognition for the story in a contest or received great comments from writing mentors or book coaches.
What can hold you back at this point—and certainly, what held me back—are three possible things:
- Self-doubt (see #3 above)
- Perfectionism
- Lack of knowledge about submitting
I had a combination of all three, but self-doubt was probably playing the biggest role. So I continued to write and polish but not submit.
When I finally got a little ticked off at my lack of progress, I dug in and learned more about submitting—which is a whole new education in itself! (You must learn about researching publishers, writing a good query letter, writing a good synopsis, etc.)
When I finally got serious about submitting my novel, I started getting requests for the full manuscript. And shortly after that, I had my first publishing contract.
Tip: When your writing reaches a publishable level, set aside some time to learn all you can about submitting. Then create a schedule so that “submissions” become a regular part of your writing practice. Don’t be afraid to get help on writing query letters and synopses—they require entirely different skills!
Note: I do offer coaching for some new writers working on their first novels. If you’re interested, contact me for more information.
What do you wish you had known when writing your first novel?
Featured photo by Keira Burton from Pexels.