From First Draft to Published Book - My Journey

The Meet Cute Curse is my third novel and my fifth published work of fiction. For a number of years, I longed to be a writer but I finally took the leap to actually writing a novel once I'd finished university. Here's I took a simple idea and turned it into a published work of fiction.

The first thing that I think is worth mentioning is that I'm a self-published author. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't make much difference but if you are keen to read from the experience of a traditionally published author, unfortunately, I cannot provide that.

My very first book, Facing Charlie, felt like a test run for me. It was a story that was important to me, but wasn't one of my big ideas. I wanted to get used to the idea of writing a novel without worrying about it being too perfect, or not doing the story justice.

As it goes, I believe that was the right decision. I've learned a lot about my writing style as well as formatting tips that ensure my work is the best that it can be.

The writing journey for each of my books has been different. For Facing Charlie, I started with a concept and let the story guide me from chapter to chapter. For Who Are We To Be, I mapped out each chapter in advance. For Dear Jane, I planned out what each of the letters would cover or reveal. For Henry's Home, which is based closely to a true story, I took the moments that felt the most impactful and concise to form a short story. Finally, for The Meet Cute Curse, I created a plot outline and then separated the ideas into chapters.

The one consistent throughout all books was the target word count for each chapter. I have a target word count for the book and try to spread them evenly between chapters. For Facing Charlie, the word count per chapter was one thousand words, and for The Meet Cute Curse, the word count for each chapter was around four thousand. Chapters can exceed them but it's just an easy way to stay on target for the book.

In each instance, I will ask peers to read a small portion of the book early on to gauge whether or not their reaction is what I was hoping for. There are paid ways to do this, but even just using close friends and family is often good enough.

If you don't have anyone you feel comfortable asking, you could always compare your written work to a similar book. For example, if you're writing YA dystopian fiction, you could read a chapter of The Hunger Games to see if your writing has a similar impact. This method does rely on you being objective and impartial. The best way is to be the most strict critic of yourself when doing this comparison.

Everybody has a different method when it comes to writing, so don't worry too much about the right or wrong way. For me, I like to have a rough idea and a plan of what happens in the chapters, but I also want to see where the story takes me. What feels natural and change course as I see fit.

Once I have the first draft, I usually leave it for a month or so. It helps with gaining distance and perspective so that when I go back to do the edits, I can read it as objectively as possible. The first draft is always in A4 format for me and my trusty tools are highlighters, sticky notes and different coloured pens.

When it comes to editing, there are a few things that I look out for. One being typos (that just requires highlighting and the writing in the correction. The second thing I look out for is the wording of sentences or repeated words. Then I use a different coloured highlighter, along with a red or blue pen to write in what I would change it to. The third thing I look out for is if there needs more added to a scene or an added explanation/context. That's where the sticky notes come in.

Once I'm happy with the annotations, I edit the story and get my second draft. However, as I edit one chapter at a time, I run it through Grammarly to check for any grammatical errors and then place that chapter into the book format using one of KDPs templates.

As I take time away from the first or second draft, I start playing around with covers. As a self published author, I'm responsible for every single aspect of the book. Some people are talented when it comes to artistic skills, but for me, I look at options in Canva.

To design a cover, I come up with a concept of what I would like for the book which usually entails deciding what visual encompasses the book well. For The Meet Cute Curse, I came up with five or six different options; some including coffee, others including hands, until I settled on something that felt right. After that, I play around with the font styles, size, positioning of elements until it looks captivating.

Similarly with feedback on the written side, it helps to get opinions of those around you to see what they like or don't like about the cover. Sometimes, when you work on something for so long, it can be hard to figure out why it doesn't look perfect. Other people may be able to see that. For The Meet Cute Curse, my peers immediately said that the font wasn't big enough. It was such a simple fix but I couldn't see it as I was focused on making sure all of the elements fit on the cover nicely.

Then it's time to order the proof, do the final round of edits and then publish.

It's a long process to take an idea and turn it into a fleshed out story but it's also fun. The characters come to life. If you mention any characters from my previous books, they are as clear to me as the day that they were created.

The fantastic news is that now, anyone can publish their own book. If you have an idea and you want to bring it to life, do it! Enjoy the journey as well as the finished book.

The Meet Cute Curse is released on 6th November!

All of my books are available from Amazon or the Zortex store.