Don't forget to enjoy the journey

by Stephanie Morrill

Jill and I just finished finalizing the content for our upcoming release, Go Teen Writers: How to Turn Your First Draft into a Published Book. I was revising my final paragraphs, in which I talk about how you never really "arrive" in writing. There's always someplace higher to go in your career, there's always another story to write, etc. And that's why, I had said, it's important to enjoy the journey.

And then I laughed out loud because I could imagine my husband snorting when he read it. He's too kind to ever call me a hypocrite out loud, but I was reminded of how much griping, whining, and crying I've done to him over the last few months. Writing frustrations, business frustrations, a lack of control over my time, the list goes on.

I haven't been very good recently about enjoying this particular bend in my journey. And it's something I need to work on.

I also had a tough time appreciating the journey in my unpublished days. And while there are many awesome things about being published, there are a few things I wish I had enjoyed more during my unpublished days. Like:

The freedom to write whatever I wanted. 

I was a serious story drifter in my early days. And even after I got the hang of writing full manuscripts, I would sometimes write half of one, switch to a new exciting idea and write a third of it, then go back and finish the other manuscript. And it didn't matter!

But once you're contracted and you've agreed to a deadline, you don't get to chase those enticing new-idea bunny trails. You remind yourself that you're glad someone is expecting your manuscript by a particular date, and you press on.

Getting to write books, not just book proposals

Some seasons have been book writing seasons for me. Like between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009, when I edited one manuscript, and wrote and revised three other complete novels.  But other seasons, especially recently, have been book proposal writing seasons. Where it feels like my career is I'm cranking out three chapters, a synopsis, and some marketing ideas time after time.

No one asking for anything

Before I was agented or published, nobody ever need anything writing-related from me. When you move onto the next stage, you get requests like, "I have an editor who's looking for this type of book. Can you work up a proposal for something this week and get it back to me?" Or, "Here are your content edits for your book. Can you make the changes within two weeks so we can stay on schedule?"

And because you love being a published writer and you want to remain a published writer, you drop the story you're working on (and you were inevitably in the groove, with characters who are just about to face-off with the villain...) and do what they ask.

Writing without feeling like, "I should probably be doing marketing stuff right now..."

When I first got my contract and discovered I was going to have to, like, market the thing, I was wondering, "Where do I learn what kind of marketing stuff I can do?" And then a year later I was thinking, "There's so much! How do I know when I can stop?!"

With so many avenues for marketing, it could be your full time job. But I'm the type of writer who needs a writing project going all the time or she gets cranky. Which means even in a marketing season, I'm trying to write at least 100 words a day so that I can be a bearable person to live with.

And sometimes I spend those 100 words thinking things like, "I haven't been on Twitter yet today ... I should call our indie bookstore about a book signing ... I should send out emails to the local schools letting them know I'm available for career day ... maybe I should work up some curriculum I could teach at the local library."

Nothing like allowing yourself 10 minutes a day for writing but feeling guilty the whole time that you're not doing more marketing stuff.

With marketing expectations, you either go crazy or you learn to do your best, then let go of the guilt of not doing more.

Zero or low expectations from others.

Of course there are things about this that totally suck, but there are some perks as well. You're unproven, and while that can work against you, it can also work in your favor.

Because publishers aren't looking at your sales numbers from the last book and thinking, "Do we or do we not want to invest more money in this writer?"

And they're not looking at the other books you wrote and saying, "We don't want to publish his Sci-Fi book, everything he's written so far has been historical."

Nobody knowing you is it's own unique hurdle, but it also means that no one is assigning incapabilities to you yet.


While I'm not about to complain about being a published writer, I wish I had been better about recognizing the joys of being pre-published. So let's practice - what's some great about being where you are now in your writing journey?