Writing Your First Book With Zero Experience: Ignorance as the greatest creative asset
Dear overthinkers, this one’s for you <3
Hey, it’s Rachel. Before we dive in, quick pause so i can yell:
WE’RE RANKING #26 ON SUBSTACK’S FICTION LEADERBOARD !!!
To every deranged fic girlie, literary nerd, and genius with a 300k word doc and no backup, this win is yours too. Thank you for making this the kind of place people want to join and making me excited to show up every day to chat your ear off.
Now, let’s talk about firsts.
Specifically: the time I wrote a whole-ass novel with no clue what I was doing.
“Did you always know you’d be an author?”
Kind of. But I didn’t always believe I’d finish a book, if that makes sense?
My first book, Lavender Bay, was born out of a fuck it moment (as most great things are). I had the story in my head for over a decade and I’d written tons before, from fanfics to poetry to angsty self-exorcisms disguised as fiction, but finishing something? Physically putting it into the world? That was an entirely different beast.
So I gave myself two weeks. A “write it now or shut up forever” challenge, if you will.
I do not recommend that deadline… unless, like me, procrastination is your love language.
ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 Release Radar🚨
this week’s book rec: Rewind it Back by Liz Tomforde just dropped!
It’s the fifth and final book in the Windy City hockey romance series. This one’s a second-chance (we all know how i feel about that) friends-to-lovers with allll the heartache.
If you’ve been waiting for the series to finish so you can binge it, your time has arrived.
I personally loved the first one so going to use this as a way to catch-up with all the characters again. Add to your TBR here → Rewind It Back
But back to the self-publishing journey (and my writing advice if you’re thinking of starting a book or have started and feel like the world is imploding)…
Why Not Knowing Anything Helped Me
The biggest thing I’ve learned is that writing your first book with no experience is the equivalent of bull riding while hopped up on Monster Energy: you don’t feel the bull kick when your heart’s already threatening to go into cardiac arrest.
Here’s what I mean:
I didn’t worry about word count, plot arcs, pacing, or what a “high-concept hook” even meant.
I wasn’t chasing the market/what would sell. I was chasing the impossibly high standards of the story in my head.
I filled it with band references, wattpad-level angst, and morally dubious men because I wanted to, not because it was trending.
I wasn’t trying to be impressive, I just needed to get it out of me.
Was it cringey? Absolutely.
Did I make mistakes? Oh lord, yes.
Yet the freedom to write something purely for myself was a gift I’d wish on every new writer.
Inexperience = Emotional Freedom
I wasn’t writing for the Pulitzer. I was writing for the girl who stopped reading because it stopped feeling fun/life got too hectic. Who needed a nostalgic, indulgent place to fall back in love with stories.
Similarly, the characters in Lavender Bay were inexperienced themselves: they acted young for their age, made fast friendships, were impulsive and desperate for connection.
And I didn’t try to fix any of that. because it made sense.
They hadn’t been allowed to grow up, so I gleefully let them act a little insane.
And that was incredibly freeing, but it didn’t save me from the dreaded…
Publishing Part 💀
No agent. No beta readers. No developmental editor or any editor for that matter. Can you imagine?? Just little ol’ me googling how ISBNs work, designing the cover myself (on Canva ‘cause ya girl had a $20 budget to blow), oh and re-uploading the damn thing eight !! times.
I did everything alone. And I won’t lie to you, it was overwhelming as hell.
But here’s what makes me tear up:
I didn’t stop at Lavender Bay.
I published an entire trilogy in under three years as a debut author. WTF?!!
For someone who once believed her stories didn’t matter, that’s freaking monumental.
We know that social media posts vanish. Jobs and friends and situationships can ghost you.
But the book you bled onto the page for is forever. Mine now lives on shelves in homes I’ll never visit, countries I’ve never flown to, proof that my daydreams are real.
Real Talk, If You're a Beginner...
If you’ve got a story in you and zero traditional experience, here’s my advice:
✨ Write one book with no pressure for it to be good
✨ Let it be messy, cliché, dramatic, weird
✨ Treat it like your playground, not a résumé
That “cringe” you’re scared of, that the world has beaten into us, is the exact reason someone else might feel seen for the first time, and fall in love with books again.
Tell me: What was the first thing you ever wrote and finished?
A fanfic? A poem? A weird dream scribbled on a notebook in english class?
Hit reply to this email or comment on the chat. Let’s celebrate where we all started.
💌New Subscriber Shoutout💌
A massive thank you to
and for becoming paid subscribers! You keep this little corner of the internet running and I’m endlessly grateful for your support.Until next time,
𓂃🖊 Rachel
Think no one wants to read what you have to say? Keep reading:
🧷 My advice to anyone publishing their first book
🧷 Why I won’t join booktok’s takedown culture (even when it’s funny)