7. Finishing My Third Book

My official 2nd writing anniversary was on April 30th, and I celebrated the best way I knew how: typing ‘the end’ on my third book.

I wrote a 80,000 word book in 2.5 months, from mid-February till the end of April (shout out to my husband’s tax season for keeping us motivated). I felt a little bit like a crazy person, writing 47,000 words in the month of April, and my eyes started twitching at the end. But I did it! And this book feels so different from my others.

I finished You and Me Again and felt an elation that I finished a book. I did it. I wrote a book. And I was relieved that I followed through.

I finished The Week of When and felt instant relief because damn. That was hard. And Upmarket Fiction is emotional. But I did it and it’s over. And I don’t have to write Upmarket again if I don’t want to.

I finished Recipe for Disaster, and I felt like an author. I wrote a book I love and am proud of, and I already miss it. And this was the first time I have ever truly thought, “I can do this. And I can keep doing this.”

Every book serves a different purpose and teaches us something specific. I’m sure every creative feels the same about their craft, and they learn about themselves with everything they create.

There were a few things I did, however, that made Recipe for Disaster different from my other two books:

I poured myself into the character development
I took the time to really figure out who these characters were before I started writing and as I started the first few chapters. I know their star signs, their Enneagrams, their favorite foods and colors. Their familial traumas were laid out like a map, and their romance unfolded naturally because of who these people are. I wanted to finish their story, because I cared about their outcome. I listened to their playlist as I wrote and listened to it in the car so I was thinking about scenes as I drove. The Great Divide release was impeccable timing because wow, that is so Dean-coded, I can’t handle it.

I forced myself to write
I know, I know. This is not for everyone, and it wasn’t for me. For my first two books, I wrote when I felt like it, when I wanted to be creative or inspiration struck. This time, I really forced myself to write, even if I felt like I had nothing to say. It helped that my husband was working 70 hour weeks, so I was frequently alone at night. But there were many nights that I cussed myself out as I opened my laptop because I was not in the mood. And then I started writing, and 2,000 words later, it was midnight, and I was so happy I sat down and poured my heart out on paper.

I want to clarify: you should write at whatever pace works for you!! This type of pressure works for me because I will get in my head and never write at all if I don’t schedule my writing! But there are so many incredible ways to write a book, and everyone’s pacing looks different, and that’s part of what makes this process so special. It is unique to every writer.

I practiced girl math
This is very important. This is a life hack. I girl math’d my way through this book. I got so stuck at 30,000 words into this book, I almost quit. I went on a walk to clear my head, convinced I was going to scrap and shelve it like I have done with the last 3 book ideas (ahem, I have a problem). And then, I realized that:

60,000 words is basically long enough for a book (it isn’t, but stick with me here). And I’m 30,000 words in. That’s halfway. I am halfway through this book! And if I can write 10,000 words three times, I’m done with the book. And 10,000 words is basically 7,000 words, and I can do that in a week! And if I need to add more scenes after the book is done, great. But I’m almost done with this book.

Reader, this book is 80,000 words long. On a first draft. And I am usually an under-writer. I have never written a book this long. But I needed to delulu myself through the mid-book writing trenches, and it worked!! And I gaslit myself into writing 20,000 more words than I thought I was capable of!

Every time I started to question if I could actually write another full-length book, the girl math came out.

Get yourself a Critique Partner
Okay, I’m going to be really sappy, but I think the real reason this book was different is because I had a critique partner for the very first time and a friend that I can talk to daily about the writing process. I started emailing Alexis pages of Recipe for Disaster when I was halfway done with it (i.e. my crashout phase), and talking with her about the pages, the characters, the plot holes, etc. kept me motivated and excited to keep working on the project. She talked me off so many ledges, bolstered my confidence, and was so enthusiastic about the book, it rubbed off on me. Getting to read her work and exchange notes is a huge privilege, and it kept me grounded through this whole process. Having someone in your corner makes a world of difference, and I highly recommend it. But you can’t have Alexis, so sorry.

I am really excited for wherever this book goes and can’t wait to dive back into editing!

Pitch:
RECIPE FOR DISASTER is a romantic comedy that is THE BEAR meets SHE’S THE MAN with a blackmail twist. A desperate chef with nothing to lose threatens to expose an infamous food critic after discovering she’s lied her entire career. With their reputations on the line, things are about to heat up.

- Forced Proximity
- Opposites attract
- He hates everyone but her
- He cooks for her (a lot)
- Social Anxiety rep

A peek into my third book!!!

FINISHING MY THIRD BOOK