Writing My First Book
Welcome back everyone! If you haven’t read my other entry my name is Alex and I am a small time author in the PNW. I am here to bring you inspiration and stories of my journey as an author. I had a pretty unconventional entry into writing. Its not something I went to school for, or something that I was encouraged to do. I was always told that authors starve and that becoming a writer would not be a fulfilling career. I have since determined on my own as an adult just how fulfilling and helpful writing and being an author can be.
Three years ago, I went through an extremely hard experience in my life and when all was said and done writing was my safe haven. I wrote the first draft of what I called at the time My Boyfriends Best Friend which has since evolved into Him or Me. I wrote my heartbreak and love into that book and when I looked back at all the words I had written and the pages I had filled I was in awe. I had never written so much in my life, never more than 10 pages or the beginnings of an idea. When I hit 30,000 words with no intentions of stopping I cried. I was overwhelmed with emotions and the idea that I had created something and in such abundance and it felt so good being able to channel my emotions into something so positive. That is when I turned to ghostwriting.
I was so excited about having finished my first book that I wanted others to be able to experience this amazing feeling. I spent a lot of time writing on freelancing websites like UpWork and Fiverr. I went out of my way to write copy for websites or any writing job that I could possibly get to help build up my portfolio. However I learned very quickly that writing articles about vacuums was not really what I had in mind when I started trying to make money from my writing. I was convinced that I had to do the smaller, lesser paid jobs because I had less experience. I thought that because I had only written one book that I couldn’t write a book for someone else yet, no one would hire me. Until they did. I remember when I got my first job writing a novella. I had completely changed my writing profile turned it from someone looking for small writing projects and projects writing copy, into a more flushed out Novel writing portfolio. I wrote short stories, I wrote single chapters of books I did anything I could to increase what I had in my portfolio. This is what really pushed me from writing short articles into writing novellas and eventually Novels.
When I met my first long term client I thought he was a scam. Christopher had reached out to me on UpWork about a project he was working on. He had found me through open job postings that I had made on UpWork. He told me he liked my work and wanted to pay me to write a novel he had been working on for 15 years. The mere idea that he had picked me out of all of the other qualified writers because he liked my writing style sparked something in me. When we started on his projected our projected time line was 6 months. He paid me for 6 months worth of work. However at the end of the day we are still working on this project now and it has been 2 years. I am dedicated to making sure his story is exactly what he wants and I will make sure it is completed to 100% and that he is satisfied to the utmost certainty before I close out this project. What started as a 6 month work relationship has developed into a flourishing friendship as well as a returning client.
Anyway getting back on track my first book. My first book, my first draft everything about it was terrible except for the story line. Some people say that writing the story is the easy part and finding someone that can edit it and make it readable to the masses is the hard part. I am always coming up with amazing ideas, concepts and scenes that I would love to write about but finding the perfect space in which to write them can be difficult. You want unique characters but also characters your audience can relate too. You want to write about your own experiences but also escape from the reality of your life and into your writing. It is quite the balancing act.
For me when I was writing Him or Me I was very nervous about what other people would think of my book. What people would say or comment. If people would even like it or buy it. I realized eventually that none of that really mattered. What mattered is that I put my heart into something and was able to get it out into the world. That even if people don’t like it now they may like it later. That maybe it will never be a best seller but at least I took the chance to put something out there. That I had the confidence to put something out there.
So let me help you find your confidence, lets write a book together and give your idea the wings its needs to fly. If you are interested in my writing services please check out my lets write a story tab. Or if you have additional questions or just want to reach out you can send me a message directly through my contact page. I can’t wait to hear what amazing ideas you all have. Have a happy holidays and lets write more in the new year together!
