"Wait, you're writing a book? How does that even work!?"
A chronological, mostly accurate timeline of all the steps I've taken so far to write and eventually publish my debut novel.
Whenever I tell someone that I’m working on my debut novel, the reaction is usually a mix of awe, disbelief, and curiosity (“Wait, you’re writing a book? How does that even work?!”). Not a lot of people know what goes into writing even a moderately readable piece of fiction!
That’s why I wanted to give you all a summary of all the steps I’ve taken so far in the novel drafting/editing/querying process. Here’s a mostly accurate chronological timeline of my debut novel—the story so far, if you will (hyuk hyuk hyuk).
The Timeline
September 2019: I enroll in a class through UC San Diego Extension called “How to Start a Novel.”
October 2019: I come up with the seeds of the novel idea during a writing exercise, outline my first draft, and sketch out characters. I then promptly do nothing with it, because I’m busy traveling, keeping my business afloat, and planning my wedding to my now-husband, scheduled at the time for April 2020 (cue ominous, pre-pandemic music).
March 2020: Something big happened in the world, I guess. After postponing our wedding, and realizing we were probably going to be in this for longer than two weeks, I recommit to seeing how far I can take this silly little novel idea I had and finishing a first draft.
November 2020: I finish a full first draft of my manuscript, and it’s mostly terrible by my standards. But I’m so proud of myself! I’ve written a novel!
October 2021: It takes me almost a full year to finish a second draft, because that major world event was still going on, along with a bunch of other life stuff. But I do it anyway, printing out a physical copy of my manuscript and making handwritten notes for edits.
July 2022: After almost another full year in which a lot more life happened and we bought a house, I finish a third draft of my manuscript. This is the version I finally feel comfortable showing to a handful of beta readers. I start a spreadsheet to organize everyone’s feedback and pinpoint what needs to be fixed in the plot, characterization, etc.
August 2022: I strike up a conversation with a woman at my coworking space, and find out that she’s a published author, in addition to her day job in tech. Anisha (who wrote the lovely, hilarious novel Rules of Arrangement), encourages me to join the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), and I do just that.
January 2023: I sign up for the WFWA conference in Chicago, and shell out extra money to reserve pitch sessions with agents. Now I really need to make this manuscript shine.
May 2023: I finish a 4th draft of the manuscript, so a writer friend who’s visiting me from England for my birthday has something to read on the long flight from London.
June 2023: Now that I have a 4th draft of the manuscript, I feel ready to plunge into querying…except wait, I haven’t had a professional look this over. So on the advice of WFWA members, I look for a credible developmental editor, and find one in Leslie Lehr. She agrees to take me on as a client, and tell me how I can make this story the best it can be.
August 2023: Leslie lovingly rips my manuscript apart while pushing me to take it more seriously if I want to try and get it published. It’s hard and a little soul-crushing at first, but it’s worthwhile. I come up with some great new ideas to move the plot along and make the story more interesting. I try to finish a 5th draft in time for the WFWA conference but…that doesn’t happen. I go to the conference hoping that the agents will look kindly on this audacious little whippersnapper baby writer with a half-finished manuscript.
September 2023: I meet more amazing writers in one place than I ever have in my entire life at the WFWA conference in Chicago. I pitch multiple agents and small presses, which is incredibly nerve-wracking, even for an incorrigible extrovert like me. It’s great practice, and I get better with each pitch. The feedback is tough but fair, and several of them even ask for pages (two asked for a full manuscript, whenever it was ready!). I meet some great people at the
podcast meetup. I’m elated to tell my friends in Chicago all about it. Then I promptly get sick when I get home, because I caught COVID.October 2023: One agent, who had immediate openings for clients and wanted to see whatever I had ready for her to read, gets back to me. She doesn’t say “yes,” but she also doesn’t say “no.” Instead, she tells me to “revise and resubmit,” giving me two paragraphs’ worth of feedback. This, I’m told, is pretty significant, because agents are busy people, and it’s high praise for them to write more than a couple sentences back to you regardless.
November 2023: I finally finish the 5th draft of the manuscript, just in time to start on the 6th draft that will incorporate the “revise and resubmit” feedback.
December 2023: I print out and hand-write edits on the 5th draft of my manuscript. I download Scrivener, the word-processing tool many writers swear by over Word or Google Docs, and scan/upload those handwritten notes into the notes folder, so I can do some editing while I travel to the east coast for the holidays.
January 2024: I start re-outlining the 6th draft of my manuscript using Lisa Cron’s Story Genius scene card method.
What Now?
My goal is to finish the new, 6th-draft outline by the end of this month, and a complete 6th draft by the end of February. Once I have that, I will send that back to the original “revise and resubmit” agent. Then, I’ll send the requested materials to everyone who requested them at the conference (yes, I’m a little ashamed it’s taken this long, but hopefully they haven’t forgotten me). After I’ve done that, I’ll finally dive into researching on Publisher’s Marketplace, sending cold queries through QueryTracker, and girding myself for the ensuing emotional rollercoaster.
Confession: I partially wrote this post to remind myself how much I’ve done so far, and how far I’ve come on this journey. Everyone’s writing process is different, so please don’t use this as a step-by-step guide for “how to write a novel.” In fact, I may even write a separate post on all the things I’ve done ass-backwards, according to conventional writing wisdom. But the fact is, I’ve done this much, and I’ve got a long way to go.
Here’s to a productive 2024!
This is so impressive! Bravo and can't wait to read it one day! Good luck <3
This was so encouraging and insightful to read! Thanks for being transparent about the ups and downs of the whole process. I've always felt clueless about how to find and pitch to agents, so reading about your experience at the WFWA conference was enlightening. Will you be documenting the rest of your author journey in your newsletter?
On an unrelated note, I checked out your bio and realized we're county neighbors! Hello from O.C. 👋!