Writing

One Year of ACTUAL WRITING!

Exactly one year ago to the day, I sat down and began writing the first proper draft of my book. I’d written about 20,000 words of a veerryyyy rough draft the summer before, but… that was pretty much all scrapped. I managed to salvage 5,000 words, but that was it. It was, quite honestly, a load of rubbish.

So, back in January 2017, I grabbed a handful of characters who I didn’t know a lot about, a brief plot that didn’t have much substance, and got to work. This time, I was in luck: I got to 40,000 words before I had to put it to the side to tackle my dreaded AS-level exams. Seeing as though I’d written the rough draft back when I was doing my GCSE’s, I definitely don’t make things easy for myself. Something clicked with this draft, though, something that made me happy every time I added words to my manuscript. The characters sprung to life on the page, even off of the page because I couldn’t stop thinking about them; the settings I included became vivider, even more so than when I was writing them in the actual places I feature. Everything finally came together and worked.

I remember sitting in a café in Haworth after visiting the Brontë Parsonage for the first time, right around the time I’d first started writing it back in June 2016, and telling myself, “This is it.” This is going to be the book you finish, finally, after so many false starts. No more 1,000 word openings with nothing else to follow. No more giving up on writing. You’ve got this.

I’d like to think that the spirit of Emily Brontë was looking over me in that moment, because apparently THIS WAS IT. A book I’d finish seven months after starting a proper draft, query nine months later, and the book that ten months later would get me signed with a literary agent better than my wildest dreams. Thanks, Emily.

It’s been a moment of extreme highs and extreme lows (yes, the saying “blood, sweat and tears” quite LITERALLY applies to this book), but I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have no idea what the next year will hold for me and my mad group of book lovers but, whatever happens, I will always be incredibly proud of my first ever book and proud of myself for having the motivation and determination to finish it.

If you’re currently writing a book, other than invoking the spirit of a genius author, my advice is, of course: YOU’VE GOT THIS. And may 2018 be an amazing writing year for us all!

I’d love to hear about your 2018 writing projects and goals in the comments below!

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15 Comments

  • Reply
    Charlotte Dawson
    Twitter:
    10 January, 2018 at 11:10 am

    I’ve started writing this year! Alrhough I always think an idea, wrote a few thousand words, and then hate it..
    I think this year I need to just stick with the story I keep trying to write, and see what happens!
    I’m also trying to write some short stories here and there because I personally love reading them.

    Thank you for giving me some motivation to just get to it! I’ve been wanting to write a book since I started a course a year ago. I’m excited for this year now.

    • Reply
      Lucy Powrie
      13 January, 2018 at 5:16 pm

      Yes, it’s definitely about choosing something and sticking with it. Short stories are also really great — I find short stories a LOT harder because they have to be so precise, whereas I feel like I’ve got a lot of room with a novel.

      Best of luck with your writing — you’ve got this!!
      Lucy Powrie recently posted…How to Support Your Favourite Blogs in 2018My Profile

  • Reply
    Jo
    Twitter:
    10 January, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    I started writing in 2016, properly anyway, finished my first full length novel for NaNoWriMo and now I have that one and a partially finished second one in 2017. I’m hoping to finish the second one this year and I’m starting looking into literary agents, though I don’t know if I’ll be sending anything out this year, just getting some ideas of where I might want to query when I’m ready.

    • Reply
      Lucy Powrie
      13 January, 2018 at 5:18 pm

      Ahh that’s so amazing! Well done on writing your first — and good luck with finishing the second! It’s definitely a good idea to start thinking of who you might want to query, even if you don’t query just yet. It might be nice to work out a longlist, and then closer to the time you can make that into a shortlist.
      Good luck, Jo!
      Lucy Powrie recently posted…How to Support Your Favourite Blogs in 2018My Profile

      • Reply
        Jo
        Twitter:
        14 January, 2018 at 10:34 pm

        Thank you! Yeah, that’s a great idea, I’m bookmarking all the literary agencies I can find right now, so I’ll definitely come back to them later to narrow down where I’ll actually send my novel. Good luck with your book too!
        Jo recently posted…Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1) ReviewMy Profile

  • Reply
    Jessica Shelley
    Twitter:
    10 January, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    SO happy for you butterfly! It’s amazing when dreams come true. Bet you’re on cloud 9!

    It’s a relief to hear that you started & stopped with your drafts a few times before you really pushed through. I started writing my current wip in my 3rd year of uni & 1 year later, I have notes / 40,000 words worth of scene-plans and first drafts everywhere! So 2018, is the year I start buckling down with organization & stop fearing what could go wrong. (Something that I’ve been struggling with – and as a result trying to get out of a writing slump!) Time for a clean slate & a fresh start! Even if it takes loads of drafts to get there! Seeing you achieve your dream, is helping to inspire me to keep going!

    Love Jess x

    • Reply
      Lucy Powrie
      13 January, 2018 at 5:26 pm

      Those 40,000 words will really help, trust me. Having already started writing, and knowing that I had SOMETHING to put on the page, helped me to actually finish what I’d started.
      I believe in you — remember that when you forget to believe in yourself because it does happen! Keep imagining what it’s going to be like to write “THE END”. You can do it!
      Lucy Powrie recently posted…How to Support Your Favourite Blogs in 2018My Profile

  • Reply
    Rachel Appiah
    Twitter:
    10 January, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    That’s so awesome, and congrats, or happy anniversary!
    One of my New Years Resolutions is to start writing again, something I haven’t done in two or three years, as much as I enjoy it.

  • Reply
    Sunny @ A Sunny Spot
    Twitter:
    11 January, 2018 at 4:52 am

    WOW LUCY! I’ve been following your writing journey on twitter and I am SO proud of you. This is an unbelievably amazing achievement and I’d love you to teach me your ways. I am that girl that always conjures up ideas but never puts pens to paper and actually commits. Last year was the first time I wrote 6000 words and that was for school, now that I’m done I really want make this year where I write something for myself and in full. You’ve given me the inspiration to do so, thank you! Congrats again.
    Sunny @ A Sunny Spot recently posted…GIVEAWAY: A Sunny Spot turns 6!My Profile

    • Reply
      Lucy Powrie
      13 January, 2018 at 5:30 pm

      Ahhh Sunny, thank you!!
      6,000 words is amazing! Before, the maximum I had written was 12,000 words, so I used that to prove that if I wrote 12,000 I could write that again and again and again until, eventually, I had a finished book. That’s all writing is — words and then some more words and even more words until you’ve got a story.

      You should try something like NaNoWriMo maybe where you’ve got lots of other people doing sprints and being encouraging. For me, it’s all about trying not to procrastinate and sitting down and ACTUALLY writing, instead of scrolling through your Twitter feed all day (okay, maybe I still do this, oops!).

      Good luck!!
      Lucy Powrie recently posted…How to Support Your Favourite Blogs in 2018My Profile

  • Reply
    Fiona Murphy
    Twitter:
    11 January, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    I’ve been starting projects and giving them them on and off for a few years, but now I’ve hit on something that I’m always excited to go back to reading. It’s about two twins who are trying to figure out who they are, while navigating their first year of sixth form! I found that such a difficult year, and I’ve never read a book that treated it as anything other than in the background.

  • Reply
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