I officially started the first draft of The Wild Assault yesterday, which is the prequel to Blood for Honor that I never thought would be an actual thing. I only have 541 words that I got in about an hour of spare time, but I started it. Who knows when it will be finished…but it has begun.

If you have a story in your heart, don’t worry about what it looks like. Your first draft will be trash, but it’s a whole friggin’ story. The sooner you accept that it won’t be what you want the first time through, the less stressful the process. Steven King is a crazy person. Please don’t try to model your writing life after him. There isn’t enough cocaine in the world to make another one of him lol. I worked on Blood for Honor for a DECADE. No, I didn’t originally set out to write a book to publish, I was just bored, but I ended up learning a lot that I would still be struggling with now if I had not seen it to completion.

Just write the story!

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The hardest part of writing a book is finishing it. So WRITE IT. And then worry about making it pretty. And just so you know, I’m talking to myself. I am a perfectionist at heart, and I have tried to kill that part of me that gets obsessive over little things. That hussy won’t die, but I have learned to control her, and her eagle eye has turned into a gift where it was once a curse. So if you are a perfectionist and can’t finish that book of your heart because you keep worrying about what it looks like right now, STOP IT! Just finish it and worry about that later. Get the story out and THEN you can go back and make it pretty.

It’s called editing!

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I never intended to give a dialogue on writing when I started this post. It was going to be a simple Facebook post, but it went off the rails. I really hope that my diatribe inspires you to finish that thing you have been sitting on for who knows how long. You can do it. Just breathe, and for God’s sake, don’t start editing before you get the entire story on the page. I like falling down rabbit holes, but that is NOT one you want to try to crawl out of. It’s like a vortex that will suck you back in as you are clawing your way out over the edge.

This isn’t to say that looking back at what you wrote the day before to see what you wrote or fix a few minor spelling errors is bad. That does make the process easier in the long run and keeps you from veering off course, but don’t start changing your story structure until you have the original written out. I learned that the hard way. Take my words of wisdom to heart and save yourself and your time.

I just wanted to let you know that if you have a story, someone needs to read it. Not everyone will like it, but those who do will be forever grateful that you put it out in the world. And if you are looking for an editor after you’ve run through your manuscript once or twice (which is a must–please don’t send a rough first draft to your editor, regardless of who they are), I do offer Editing Services at low rates compared to a lot of the editing industry at large. I am currently working on Manuscript Critique and Line Editing service pages (for fiction novels only), but I will post an update when that is ready. Click the link above to check out what I currently have offered, and keep me in mind when you start looking for someone to bring your book baby to life. Follow my blog to get email updates as soon as I post!

Many blessings,
Emma Lee Joy