3 Steps to Success For New Writers: From A Newbie

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National Novel Writing Month was something I never would have heard of, if it hadn't been for Twitter.

In April of this year, after losing my job several months before, I finally had a breakthrough. I saw many friends or colleagues going after their dreams, and I was experiencing major FOMO. The question I had to ask myself was, "Are you willing to put in the effort to make your dream a reality?"

KILLING MY INNER CRITIC

My gut reaction is of course, "Yes! I want to make my dreams come true!"

But after about ten minutes, my brain goes through a sequence of self-sabotage. Doubt will rain down fiercely, if you allow it.

My inner critic has killed my best ideas while they were still that, ideas. If you allow this to happen, you'll never take action.

If you're anything like me, you've allowed doubt to hold you back from opportunities. I never feel like I have the talent to pursue my dreams. I need endless validation. Losing my job made me feel like a failure. I was collecting unemployment and had nights where I'd cry myself to sleep. I had to buckle down and figure out what I was meant to do with my life. Now I'm only 25, and was 24 when all of this was happening, but I will say this dose of reality helped to push me forward.

I started to think about the things I did as hobbies. How could I work AND be happy at the same time? Since childhood, I've been an avid reader. I've also had a knack for writing poetry and song lyrics from my background in music. A fire inside me started to kindle and I felt as though I was finally in line with the universe.

So, I decided to pursue writing. I had a degree in journalism after all, I just needed experience. If I gave it my all, I had to succeed. There were no other options. A couple weeks later, I became the Pop Album Reviewer for mxdwn.com. I had managed to combine my two loves: music and writing.

TAKING ACTION

While I had taken action as a writer, it was still an unpaid position. However, it would allow me to build a portfolio and it would look great on my resume. What I didn't expect, was for my editors to love my work. I would send in reviews then read the published piece, and would be shocked to find that my work was barely edited, if at all. Four months later, and now I'm a Senior Editor at the site. I finally felt like I was on the right path, but I was interested in writing more than just reviews.

So, I started writing poetry and editing poems I had written previously. On a whim, I decided to create a blog and Twitter account, specifically to connect with writers. Twitter was full of poets, authors, and freelance writers. I started to see tweets about submitting to literary journals and magazines, writing contests, and blogs.

I submitted two poems related to my state of depression: "Unemployment" and "Cliff's Edge." I received two rejections, but those didn't matter. Here's a word of advice to my fellow writers: do not allow rejection to control your life. I say this because those two rejections came at the same time I received an acceptance for publication. These poems will be published in Down in the Dirt Magazine's November issue (but if you can't wait, you can read them here). I could barely contain my excitement. I was a published poet! If I would have given up after my rejections, I never would have been published. This caused me to submit more and more, get rejected again and again, but now I have another three poems that will be published in an anthology next year.

Around the same time, I was connecting with a lot of authors who were talking about NaNoWriMo frequently. I, the newbie, had no idea what they were talking about, but I felt like I should. Google is wonderful for these types of situations. Less than ten minutes later, I was signed up for my first Camp NaNoWriMo. For other newbies, NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month and it takes place during the month of November. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Which, yes, is complete insanity.

However, Camp NaNo occurs during April and July, and you set your own goals. I participated in July, and was placed in a "cabin" with like-minded writers. We were all working on young adult/fantasy novels. My goal for the month was to write 15,000 words. Week 1 seemed to fly by and I wasn't sure if I would hit my goals. I failed miserably Week 2, but pulled through Week 3. By the end of the month, I still had a lengthy amount of words I had to write, but I finished! Actually, I surpassed my goal and wrote just over 15K.

A LESSON IN WRITING

Camp NaNo was an amazing way for me to track my progress. Procrastination is my worst enemy, but having a goal for one month really helped me to get shit done.

I'm a part of an amazing group chat on Twitter with writers, many of which were also participating in Camp. This chat provided me with another level of accountability. Many members would start group sprints, and I found once again, when I have a timed goal I'm more anxious to get it done. We'd do several 25 minute sprints, and I would find myself writing faster than ever. In a matter of an hour, I would have another 1,000 words or more on the page. Much of my NaNo success I attribute to that chat.

My writing journey has just begun, but I already have a plethora of knowledge to keep me moving forward on my novel.

Here's what I've learned:

TURN SELF-DOUBT OFF

My poetry would have never been published, and I would have kept my book ideas stashed away in my brain if I hadn't decided my ideas were worth pursuing.

GET EXCITED

If no one has told you this today, you and your ideas matter. Go after what you want in life, and be excited as hell for YOURSELF. No one else can do it for you, and you shouldn't rely on their support. Prove the naysayers wrong and run full force toward your goals.

SET REASONABLE GOALS

If I would have set my goal for 50,000 words my first Camp, I surely would have failed. If that were the case, I might have felt too defeated to get back into my novel. Instead, I pursued a goal that would challenge me, but was not impossible.

For all the newbies out there, too afraid to pursue writing, the best advice I could give you is to START. Writing is a solitary venture; the only person that can hold you back is yourself. SO GO FOR IT!

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