24

I’ve recently had my 24th birthday, which means that I’ve been writing now for at least 20 years – no I’m not joking. That’s important to me to call out because, well, I always thought that I’d be published by now. I always believed that I was going to write my break-out-success first novel by the time I was 18, and get published before I could legally vote.

What I think I’ve learned between 12 – when I first *knew* I would be published before 18 – and now, is that getting work “out there” is not the challenge. Don’t get me wrong, being published is difficult, whether you choose to self-publish or you pursue traditional publishing. But the bigger challenge, at least for me, is to be sure that the first thing I ever publish is something that I am truly proud of. I have, had, and will continue to have a million and one novel ideas. I’ve even turned some of them into novel-length works. Some exist as fan fiction, others exist in a folder of projects that need serious work before I would ever let another person read them. But though I am proud of all of these works, none of them has yet been “the” work.

I know that maturity, tone, style – all of these are skills that you build and continue to build as an author. And I know that I am dedicated to building these skills. But I also know that there is an element of life experience that comes in as well, which means that any author looking back at any work that they wrote at another point in their life will probably find ways that they would tell the story “now” that they wouldn’t “then.” Despite that, I think that when I write “the work” I’ll know.

Actually, I think I’m writing “the work” right now. I have an idea that has grown with me over the past decade of my life as I’ve grown. Even though I know better, there are parts of me that still want to rush this thing and get my “reward” so-to-speak. Parts of my head/heart that still want to set deadlines and make myself be published by 25. But right now the more logical part of me is beginning to appreciate the logic of not rushing. When I look back at my writing even over the past 5 years, I’m glad that I waited for this novel. And I can’t wait to share that with anyone and everyone who reads this…when it’s truly ready.