A Long Winded Tale of a Sixteen Year Old and Four Books

A Long Winded Tale of a Sixteen Year Old and Four Books

(And Tips for Aspiring Young Authors)

There are so many people out there who are brilliant writers, many of them who likely have more talent than me. There are many people out there who, despite all of the things they have to say, have not a single published work to their name. What sets the authors apart from these talented individuals who have yet to publish his or her literary masterpiece?

What exactly does it take to write and publish a book?

For me, I don't think I could have written my first book without the inspiration that came from my first pet spider, Bean. For those of you who don't know, my book, Narrations From a Spectator of Bean, is a day by day narrative about the lives of jumping spiders. The whole thing started with my newfound fascination with one of the juvenile P. audaxes, ending with a deep love for all things eight legged. 

I always wanted to write a book. In the sixth grade, I wrote a gory, graphic short story called Alice, which eventually had its tiny following amongst a few friends. Alice never got finished, because I didn't have the drive back then as an eleven year old, nor did I structure my writing and pace myself each week. Setting goals and self motivating was a huge reason I was able to write my first book, and developing those good habits allowed me to write three more in around two and a half years. 

There are many things I still have no clue about.  From experience, however, I have learned just how important it is to be humble, kind, and respectful to yourself and others. Respecting myself and knowing my limits is something that has helped me immensely. If I know I haven't slept well and I'm not prepared to write, then I need to respect that, even if it puts me behind a day. 

Belittling yourself for what you have not gotten done will destroy your confidence. Focus on the positives, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Negativity spreads into your writing. You can definitely tell (or at least I can) when I had a bad day in my writing. I noticed this a lot in my third book, Beyond Eden. If I was feeling depressed, the character would be injured or something awful would happen around her. Few people I know want to read the subconscious frustrations of an author who spilled coffee on their shirt this morning.  

It's okay to get frustrated though.

There were a lot of times where I genuinely believed that I would never make it. What really kept me going was the thought of my strong support group cheering me on as I sign my first printed copy of a book I wrote. Boy, I'll tell you– it was so worth it!