One thing I get asked a lot is general advice for writers who are working on our just finished their first novel. While I'm watching the puppy, I'm going to drop advice for new writers in hopes of organizing my thoughts for a coherent post later!

First: YAY! Welcome! Whether you're just in the planning stages for your first novel or on your sixth and finally thinking about publication, you're doing something awesome and exciting and creative and you should be proud!

Next: If this is your first novel, my biggest recommendation is to have fun, learn, explore, and not think much about publication at this stage. No need to make it work before it has to be.

Writing novels is like any other skill: you get better with practice. You're probably going to be a much better writer by the time you finish your first draft. You may want to go back and start over, or start a new book entirely.

Important: This is NOT A SETBACK.

This is part of how you grow as a writer. I still go back and start over at some point for EVERY SINGLE BOOK because I learn more about the book and the characters (and hopefully in general, because I never want to stop growing) and know I can do it better.

In fact, this should be your first focus: becoming a better writer, and making your book(s) as good as it/they can be. Everything you write moves you forward in this goal, even stuff you wind up throwing out.

This is your training montage.

Okay, so eventually you emerge from your training montage more badass. You've revised your book and maybe written another book or two or three. You've leveled up. You're ready to start thinking about publication. What's next?

The part I, personally, hated at first: research.

You REALLY don't want to just jump into publishing without knowing anything about it. There are SO MANY WAYS to shoot yourself in the foot. Solid research will likely put your career ahead YEARS.

And best of all, you may meet some wonderful fellow writers while you're doing it!

One decision you'll want to make early on is whether you're heading toward self publishing or traditional publishing. You absolutely can switch between them, and both are 100% valid paths to success as an author. They're just different.

My one-tweet breakdown of the key difference:

Self publishing is great beacause you're in charge of everything!

Traditional publishing is great beacause you're NOT in charge of everything!

I personally am sticking like glue to the trad publishing route (even though it took me about 20 years to get here) because I know I don't have the time or the hustle to run the business that is self publishing. I just want to write. For me, the tradeoffs are well worth it! YMMV.

Once you've picked a route, find the relevant online writer communities. They are going to be FULL of great and current information. You'll also meet people, which is important because you really need a social support network in this business. People who understand your pain.

(I'm going to focus on trad publishing from here on because that's my area of expertise.)

Okay, so you've written and revised and researched and joined writer communities. You feel ready. You still want to do this. What's next?

...Soooooo there are two answers to this question.

Answer One is that you start querying agents!

For traditional publication, you DEFINITELY want an agent. A good agent does SO MUCH for you. Must-have, 100%.

But to be fully honest, with Answer One you are prooooobably skipping a step.

The truth is...Most of us query before we're ready.

Not everyone! But for most of us (CERTAINLY for me), when you've worked SO HARD and come SO FAR and you are SO EXCITED about your book, there's this urge to query NOW, to get it out there, to shoot your shot.

But to make that shot your BEST shot, you want to go above and beyond to make your book the best it can possibly be. I think most of us send it out a draft or three before it's reached that final and most powerful evolution.

Don't query your Magikarp. Query your Gyarados.

This goes for both your book itself and your query. (The query is the pitch you send to agents to get them interested enough to ask for more, since they don't have time to read every full book.)

Get feedback from people you respect. Level up your writing yet more. Do the work.

Any time you're like "Ugh, I think this aspect could be better but I don't know how," or "I know how but it would be SO MUCH WORK," lean into that instead of away. EMBRACE the work. Face your fears.

If you get published, your editor is going to make you do it anyway.

Okay, so NOW you've REALLY done everything you can to make this book (and your query) as good as it can be. You've researched publishing, researched agents who seem like a great match, and you're ready to start querying!

This is where it starts getting really hard. Exciting! But hard.

You'll get rejections, and that's completely normal and okay. It's just part of the process. We all get rejections. I got, like, 200 rejections over my years of querying. They suck! But they're normal.

I'm not going to go into the querying process much here because this is supposed to be for really beginning writers, not people who've been in the query trenches for a while. But I'll tell you my recommendations for preparing yourself for the querying journey:

* Prepare yourself for a long haul. The whole querying process is slow, and most writers don't get an agent with the first book they query. Again, totally normal. It could take years...For me it took over 15 from first query to first offer of rep. Totally worth it!

* KEEP WRITING!!! Write something new. Keep leveling up and getting better. It really helps to have something newer and better in the pipe if/when your first book isn't getting traction. Plus, it's always ALWAYS good to keep becoming a better writer!

* Invest your hopes and energy in your career and growth as a writer, not in any one specific book (or draft of that book). Sometimes you can write an AMAZING book and it won't sell because people just aren't buying were-hamster horror right now. Look forward an don't give up.

I have to wrap, but one last thought for you!

Being an author is a career that can easily take over your entire life. It may be that at some point in your writing journey you decide that right now, for whatever reason, that's too much for you.

Thats FINE. You're still a writer.

If, for whatever reason, the published author route is not happening right now (or ever), there are still so many ways your writing & your creativity can reach others and bring joy and escape to a world that desperately needs it, from fanfic to GMing a tabletop game.

These are JUST AS VALID ways to use your powers. You're making magic and opening new worlds in people's heads & hearts.

Dooooo iiiiiiiit. Find a way that works for you in this moment to unleash your imagination. There are people out there who need your stories.

And if you want to be an author as well, it's never too late. Don't let anyone convince you it's a dream you have to let go of, unless you CHOOSE to let go.

Most of all, happy writing!!! Make good stories and love doing it.

Wishing luck and many good words to all you writers!