Everything I've Done Backwards as a Debut Author, According to Conventional Writing Wisdom

Spoiler: Conventional writing wisdom isn't for everybody.

If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I seem to do everything in the writing process backwards. At least, that’s what a lot of books about writing, book influencers, writing experts, and even a few published authors would say. Turns out, I’ve gone against the usual advice about how to write your first novel multiple times without even knowing it until after the fact.

It’s been over four years and six drafts since I started my debut novel. Here’s a fun list of all the things I’ve done completely ass-backwards throughout my process, according to conventional writing wisdom.

Photo credit: Shutterstock. I’ll give you a minute for the visual pun to click.

I didn’t get an MFA. A lot of the best books I’ve ever read were written by authors who got their start in prestigious Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) programs for creative writing. Think Celeste Ng, David Foster Wallace, Kurt Vonnegut, and dozens more. But just as many were written by authors without one. There’s a lot of debate over whether or not an MFA degree is helpful (connections!) or hurtful (snobbery and homogeneity!).

I respect anyone who pursues an MFA. I personally don’t have one, and sometimes I wish I did, depending on the day. But I do have a masters in something called Literature and Modernity: 1900-Present from the University of Edinburgh. Doing that was an enormous privilege and one of the highlights of my life, even if it didn’t really teach me how to be a good novelist or lead to my 22-year-old self’s dream career in academia.

I also read and listen to a lot of books, articles, and podcasts about writing as a craft. I love Bird by Bird by Ann LaMott, On Writing by Stephen King, and pretty much everything by Writer’s Digest.

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

podcast has made me into someone who listens to podcasts. Currently, I’m enrolled in the incredibly helpful Deep Dive series workshop hosted by “The Shit No One Tells You About Writing” for writers of every stage. And finally, fun fact: I started my novel in a UC San Diego extension course called “How to Start a Novel.”

The point: Education is good. MFAs are good if you believe they were worth it, but in my experience they aren’t necessary to write a full manuscript. Just keep learning about writing.

I didn’t write every day of my life. Speaking of On Writing, that’s where Stephen King famously wrote that writers have to write every single day. Even if it’s terrible. Even if you don’t want to. Solid advice if you have nothing else going on in your life whatsoever, but otherwise…aspirational at best.

I’ve not written on Christmas, my birthday, and other holidays. I’ve not written on normal Mondays, not because I’m Garfield, but because I run a business and that’s when things are generally craziest. People are parents, caregivers, have day jobs, have pets, do other things, have social lives, etc. Being able to do nothing but write all day is not sustainable for most people. Hell, being able to write for a little bit some days is a stretch for a lot of people, and that’s reality.

I also didn’t continuously focus on writing fiction for years at a time. I’ve written sketch and stand-up comedy, which I guess is a form of fiction, for years. I’ve written dozens of short stories and personal essays that have never seen the light of day in fits and bursts since middle school. I’ve written plays that were terrible, parts of plays that were shelved, and more. And then I had long periods where I was too exhausted by building a 9-to-whenever Washington, D.C. career and then a PR business in San Diego to do much of anything.

But on the flip side of all that, since getting really serious about this novel, I’ve tried to do something for it every single day in the nuggets of free time I have. That could mean outlining one scene on a break between Zoom calls instead of scrolling Instagram for a couple minutes, or putting my laundry off until later at night so I can write a few more sentences of yet another draft.

The point: there’s probably no one way to go about writing and it’s OK if you don’t do it for a while, but all the little bits and bobs you do carve out every day will add up. Just don’t let your insecurity about not having written in a while get the better of you (like it did for me for far too long).

I didn’t have a writing group or critique partner. I still don’t. I started my novel all by my lonesome and wrote three full drafts start to finish before I even showed it to anyone. Part of me is glad I did this because things can totally get workshopped to death, meaning the writer gets paralyzed by too many opinions. I know I’m someone who tends to get hobbled by anxiety whenever someone doesn’t like something I’ve created or done, and I tend to really overthink feedback. Once I was finally comfortable showing my novel draft to people, I gave it only to a handful of beta readers. They were all friends and loved ones with busy lives who needed a lot of time to read and give me their thoughts.

But I also wonder if some early feedback from a dedicated critique partner or writin group could have helped me crystalize more ideas and characters from the outset, and saved me a couple of drafts. By the time I got around to working with my wonderful developmental editor, I was four drafts deep. I thought it was in OK shape, but then she lovingly ripped it apart and sparked some new ideas and new directions for me to take the story in.

The point: maybe next draft, I’ll try to find a fellow writer for a critique partner at least. Who knows?

I didn’t outline my first draft. I mean, I sort of outlined my first draft. But not as extensively as a lot of writing experts recommend. I had a basic “here are the characters, here’s the big climax” sketch but not a lot else. I’m an improv person by nature, so I love the “yes, and” philosophy of making it up as you go along, heightening, “if this, then that,” seeing what happens, and so on. That makes me, in writing terms, a “pantser.” BUT, as I moved through multiple drafts, I realized too late the value of being a little bit more of a plotter. My developmental editor helped me learn the value of listing out the major beats, the power of archetypal stories, outlining scene by scene, and so much more. I only recently re-outlined the manuscript using Lisa Cron’s Story Genius scene card method.

The point: I’m a “plantser” now. I’ll make the first draft up as I go along, then plot in later drafts. Just maybe a little earlier in the process next time, while still maintaining that improv-ish “see what happens” open-mindedness.

I queried, ummm, early. July 2023: no shit, there I was, fresh out of a rigorous “condensed MFA on steroids” working period with my developmental editor, and I was ready to rewrite my manuscript completely. I thought it would be no problem to finish my 5th and surely final draft before I was set to pitch agents at the WFWA 10th anniversary conference in September!

*Ron Howard narration*: “She didn’t finish her manuscript draft by September.”

But I queried anyway. I went into a half-dozen live one-on-one pitch sessions with some wonderful agents and small press editors with a half-finished 5th draft. Two of them requested full manuscripts, and one of those two asked for whatever I had. I immediately hustled up to my hotel room and sent her the 162 pages I had finished, promising more when it was ready.

About a month later, she sent me a “revise and resubmit” response, which honestly was the most encouraging feedback I had ever received on my writing and lit a brand-new fire under my behind. This feedback is what’s guiding my current 6th draft, which will be the draft I query more widely.

By the way, if you’re reading this and you’re one of the agents at the WFWA conference I promised full manuscripts or pages to “when it was ready,” I am so grateful for your patience. It’s coming, I promise.

The point is: I go back and forth all the time on whether I should have waited until I had a completed full draft to pitch those agents. Only time will tell, and I unfortunately don’t have an answer on that right now.

In hindsight, following at least some of the “conventional writing wisdom” guidelines would have made things a lot easier for me. I’m still figuring this out. But doing some of those things backwards has been OK for me so far. The “standard” creative rules and processes don’t necessarily work for everybody, since we all have, you know, different life paths, experiences, and brains. And isn’t that the way it should be?