To fellow writers and readers and generally lovers of words—but above all, to young or new writers:
We've all heard it.
"Your first book isn't going to get published."
"Your first novel is your practice novel."
"Don't get your hopes up on publishing your first book."
But, let's be honest, not very many of us take this to heart. "My book will be different," we tell ourselves. "I'll be the next J. K. Rowling or Christopher Paolini."
I know I've thought that.
And now, after writing for about two years, and after finishing my first book and stepping back for a while, I look at When the Stars Went Out and shake my head. That book is not going to get published any time soon.
Why would I say that? The book is—how do you say this?—not very good. (Not very good = horrible, in my opinion...) Of course, there are some parts that I like—I love the characters, I love the arcs, I love some specific details—but mostly, I look at it and now I can see the problems—plot holes and poorly written characters. I look at it, and I see how much I have grown within the past two years.
I see how much this story helped me to grow in my worldbuilding, editing, character developing, stylistic skills—and so much more.
Your first book isn't going to be amazing. Of course, your first finished book may be good, but your first story (which is usually your first book) isn’t going to be your best work.
No one would expect the first painting or the first song to be amazing, to become the next masterpiece. That's absurd! You need to develop your work before it becomes good enough to publish.
You need to develop your work before it becomes good enough to publish.
You might remember that the title of this post is "Don't Publish Your First Story: A Lesson (and encouragement!) to Young Writers". With all this serious talk about not getting your hopes up, you might think that I'm never going to get to the encouragement part (or maybe, that there isn't an encouragement part)!
But here it is: If you know your first story is practice, you won't be so hard on yourself when you fail at publishing standards. The point of your first story isn’t to get published. It’s to grow in the craft of writing.
This is going to sound harsh, but you’re going to fail if your standards are too high. Your first book isn’t going to be perfect. And that’s okay.
We’re not perfect creatures, yet.
And do you know what that means?
We’re all going to fail.
It's going to happen at one point or another. And I know that when I fail, I'm pretty hard on myself (which I shouldn't be—it's pretty #1: prideful to think you're going to be perfect all the time, and #2: wrong).
But if I'd gotten into the habit of humility, to know that I'm not going to be perfect (Jesus is the only one who's perfect!), then when others mess up, I don't get mad at them. (Plus, I don't think it's healthy to get mad at yourself when you mess up.)
So, don't get upset at yourself if your first story isn't perfect. Or if your next story isn't amazing, either. At this point, the point isn't to write to publish.
It's to write to learn.
Of course, this doesn't mean you can't go back and edit it, and eventually publish it (that's what I'm planning to do with my first project!). This means that your first book isn't going to be amazing, and that's okay.
You don't need to be published within the next year to start a career as a writer.
You don't need to perfect the craft of writing within the next year—or the next two years, or the next five years—to start a career as a writer.
Patience. Patience is what you need to become a writer.
Patience when your first draft is longer, or shorter, than you thought.
Patience when you find yourself lost in the seemingly endless abyss of editing.
Patience when you get rejected with the story your poured your heart into.
Patience is what it takes to be a writer. Be patient with yourself.
You won't regret it.
I hope this encourages you on your writing journey!
What are you working on? Did this encourage you? Comment below!
Until next time,
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