I finally finished write an entire book. Here are 5 things I wish I knew before I started.

I did it! I wrote an entire, full length novel 😲 And, while I'm proud of myself, let me just say, there are a few things I wish I knew before I started.

Let me preface this entire post by telling you that I have written entire books in the past as part of ghostwriting opportunities. And that might make you think, "Shouldn't you already have learned the lessons you're talking about here, Amy?"

😅 You'd think...

But writing for other people is different. At least for me.

Ghostwriting usually started with a prompt and the people who hired me preferred every book to follow the same basic structure, rinse and repeat. It was usually in the conrom or historical romance genre and, if I'm honest, those books kind of write themselves.

This is the first time I've written a full length novel for myself and it was an entirely different experience.

So, let's just get into it. Here are 5 things I wish I knew before I started writing my first full-length novel.

Spoiler alert if you've followed along with my writing, this project is tentatively named "Echoes of You."

 

 

1. When you're writing from the heart, sometimes it's best to go out of order.

This was a weird one for me. I was actually scared when I realized that I would have to write this book out of order to maintain my momentum and not get lost.

It sounds counterintuitive because it is. Many writers are taught to create their story arc and then just write in a straight line. Write it the way you'll read it. But I chose to write my book the way I felt it.

I started with the parts that called to me; the parts that just felt like they needed to be written. I created a playlist for the book and as songs brought for emotions and images I just wrote. (And, yes, I did it without figuring out my plot at all - more on that later).

This is the opposite of how I wrote my Loveless Letters short story series. For those, I figured out the plot and went in that straight line.

I was scared, with this project, that I would lose my place or that the plot wouldn't make sense or the pacing would be all wrong. But it wasn't.

2. Listen to your characters. They have a story they want to tell.

Ok, this is where I get a little woowoo and some people think I'm kind of out there but 🤷🏻 it works for me. I feel like some stories are divinely written through us. Same goes for music.

Ask a musician in your life if they've ever written a song and felt like it just wrote itself. Most will tell you that it has happened. It doesn't happen every time but it does happen. Similarly, it won't happen with every book and every story (some of them will feel like drudge work to complete) but now and then a story just tells you it needs to be told.

That was the case for me with this book. I had no idea how it was going to unfold. It was like the characters called to me and asked me to write their story. I discovered the plot as I wrote. And like it said before, it was really uncomfortable at first.

But as I kept writing, I found myself eager to keep going. "What's going to happen next?" I asked myself, hungry for more. It was like I was reading the story as I was writing it.

If you feel this happening, I urge you to flow with it and see where you end up!

 

 

3. Music can make all the difference when creating your writing setting.

I've never been one for playing music when I write. I find it very distracting. I get caught up singing along and lose track of what I'm supposed to be doing.

But something different happened this time around. This time, I used music to guide me through scenes.

I knew the emotions that I wanted my characters to feel (or the ones they told me they wanted to feel, depending on how you look at it). I built a playlist of songs that just felt right for the book. Then I put it on shuffle and every song seemed to stir up an emotion and a scene. I started writing scenes from the music.

And, yes, if you are wondering, I did put certain songs on repeat to get myself through an entire scene without losing that momentum. Honestly, it helped me improve my writing time by quite a lot. I worried it would slow me down, but the opposite was true.

When it came to filling in gaps, though, and editing, the music was turned off so I could focus.

 

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Want a sneak peek at the playlist? I won't be including it with the book, but here are the vibes that helped me write the entire Echoes of You book.

👉 Check it out on Spotify

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4. Finishing writing a book can actually feel like a kind of grieving.

It sounds weird if you've never experienced it, but it can really feel like grieving to finish writing a book, especially if it's one you've grown very emotionally attached to. I wasn't expecting this feeling, if I'm honest.

Part of me didn't really want to finish writing this book because it meant saying goodbye to my characters. It meant saying goodbye to their story. I was wrong, of course. I still get to keep the story alive every time I do an edit and, in the future, every time I promote it or talk about it.

But still, there is a sense of loss I wasn't expecting. I'm definitely going to make more room for that when I write books in the future!

5. Writing a book can be a healing experience.

There was a lot going on for me, personally, when I started writing Echoes of You. My health was failing more then ever. I had been forced off work. Even my ability to write this book was compromised by health issues. (For reference, when I was ghostwriting books for other people I could write an entire book in less than a month. This one took me seven months).

But every time I got to escape into this world of my making I was able to experience things I couldn't in my everyday life. I could put myself in the shoes of my characters. I won't say much more because I'll give away the plot 😅 but suffice it to say that my mobility issues and the fact that I can't leave the house much mean that living vicariously through this book was vital to surviving a long, cold winter.

 

📕Want to check out what I've written? I've collected all my stories and books on this page right here. Yep, you just click right here.