Write, Edit, Publish: Navigating the World of Writing Without Losing Your Sanity – or Your Favourite Pen

WRITE, EDIT, PUBLISH: NAVIGATING THE WRITING JOURNEY WITH CONFIDENCE

First drafts are messy—but so is creativity. Embrace the chaos and write.

Are you ready to embrace March as the month to ‘just do it’? Our theme is March Forward (yeah, I know) so go with it and make it your mission to start kicking those (writing) goals.

Now, I’m not here to tell you that writing a book is easy – it’s not. If it was, we’d all be bestsellers and I’d be out of a job. However, it is rewarding and somewhat satisfying to see your name on the front cover of a book.

I could write a book on … writing a book, but I only have a few hundred words here, so I’m going to distil it down into three crucial stages, each with one piece of advice

FROM BLANK PAGE TO PUBLISHED BOOK: CONQUER THE WRITING PROCESS

Stage 1: Write It

Approach the writing of your first draft like Australian artist, Pro Hart, sometimes approached his artwork – with a cannon. It’s true. Pro Hart was known for his love of firing paint out of a cannon to create his art, and also of dropping food all over the carpet and then sliding through it.

Now, I’m not suggesting you do this with your writing but the point is that first drafts are messy. But messes can be cleaned (see Editing below) so have fun. Splash words and ideas around on the page – if they don’t work, no worries. But if they do, you’ve got yourself a keeper.

MESSY DRAFTS, RUTHLESS EDITS, FEARLESS PUBLISHING—LET’S GO!

Stage 2: Edit It

This is the super serious stage. Editing your work, or having it edited can – let’s be brutally honest here – feel like having your soul ripped from your body. Your writing is your heart. It’s you. Your ideas, your passions, your thoughts. Knowing that you are going to have to cut back on the results of your hard work can be heartbreaking.

The thing to remember here is that editing serves only to make your writing better. Be brave. If a sentence doesn’t work – cut it out. If a character is not serving the story – say goodbye. If one of your memories doesn’t fit the theme – save it for your next book. Remember, you’re cleaning up the mess you made in Stage 1. Nobody wants to live in a food-spattered house, and readers don’t want to read your messy first draft.

Publishing is terrifying, but so is staying silent when you have a story to tell.

Stage 3: Publish It

If any part of this process could be described as truly terrifying – this is it. Pressing ‘publish’ or ‘print’ is knee-knockingly scary because this is the stage where your book goes from being a relative secret to being revealed to the world. No pressure at all.

Of course, there are oh-so-many twiddly-diddly bits between editing and holding the book in your hand but when all boxes are ticked, you can take a breath and press that ‘red button’ on the Launch Your Book rocket.

March forth and write, oh fearless one. I look forward to reading your story some day.

MARCH FORWARD AND WRITE: YOUR STORY DESERVES TO BE TOLD THE WRITE WAY: CRAFTING, REFINING, AND RELEASING YOUR BOOK INTO THE WORLD

Kellie Nissen founded Just Right Words in 2019 and is an author coach and self-publication mentor who specialises in adult and children’s fiction and memoir.

She is the Group Expert for Book Publication and Author Support in Yeah the Girls 40+ Community. Every time Kellie writes, whether it’s a story or an article, she learns something new about herself.