Four Lessons from my First Book

I wrote a book during the pandemic. I had no business writing one, but I did anyway, and now it is out in the world for you people to confirm this fact.

In writing this book (which is available here), I learned some things. A few things, actually. I probably could have learned a few more, but even so, I consider myself lucky to have captured these lessons that I have since written down. If you are so inclined, below you will find these four lessons that I learned writing my first book at 22.  

Write just for one person

Despite being an amazing writer (at least according to my grandmother), I have to understand that some people aren’t going to like my writing. Everyone has different opinions and preferences; it’s part of what makes us human. But some people still try to please everyone.

Hi, I’m some people. In the first drafts of the book, I found myself being torn in every direction, writing in an effort to appease anyone who came to mind. I kept thinking, Oh, Ezekiel wouldn’t like this sentence, or Tony would think this passage is too much. Sometimes I would find myself in impossible predicaments where I wrote passages that Jeff would like, but Tony wouldn’t, and changing it would only reverse the scenario.

Instead, I learned to write like only one specific person is going to read it. This isn’t a new concept. All the great authors had their muses. Hemmingway had his wives (he married and divorced several times). Fitzgerald was perhaps unhealthily obsessed with his wife Zelda. Jack Kerouac based many characters on his best friend Neal Cassady. These people provided inspiration while also forcing them to focus their writing to a single audience.

I started to write with one specific person in mind. Rather than feeling like I was writing with a crowd of people behind me, looking over my shoulder and giving me unwarranted suggestions, my writing became a single conversation with this individual. The crowd faded away, and I was free to focus my efforts.

Who do I write for? Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy. Using a single person as my target audience helps to focus my writing and prevents me from worrying about what others might think. Now I only have to worry about what one person might think (still very exhuasting).

Write what you want to read

I used to read all the fancy journals that writers are supposed to read. The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, really any journal pretentious enough to put “the” in front of their name. I would read the stuffy pieces in these journals, attempt to replicate their stuffy writing, and would never quite succeed. I would give up halfway through.

One day I realized that I did not like reading these stuffy pieces. Life is short, and I already have spent way too much time reading things I did not like (I was a Political Science major). I started to write like my favorite authors, and I instantly found myself writing so much more. Friday in Florence is heavily based on Cannery Row by Jon Steinbeck and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, two of my favorite books that were re-read several times during the process and inspired much of my writing.

Let it breathe

I finished the first draft of FiF in early August of 2020, after which I decided I deserved a break. The official reason for this was that I wanted to give myself a few weeks without thinking about the book, so I could come back and edit with a fresh eye, something I heard all the good writers do.

I struggled with this. For better or for worse, I hate it when I don’t finish something. I didn’t want to become another one of those people who never finished their book. Also, I was bored, and writing that draft had helped me kill many hours during California’s first lockdown.

But I stayed strong (by distracting myself with a little work and a lot of League of Legends), and the result paid off. Coming back from my three-week break, I noticed that the ending of my book (which I initially thought was Pulitzer level writing) was complete shit. I wouldn’t have noticed this if I had immediately gone into editing mode. So, take a break every once in a while. It’ll help you in the long run, and after all, you deserve it.

Get your ducks in a row before you dive into the pond

When I started writing FiF, I had zero idea of how it was going to turn out. I had a few vague characters, a setting, and not much else. This was a mistake.

 I’m still of the opinion that authors don’t need to, if they even should, flesh out exactly what happens in the plot before writing it (rather let it grow organically from page to page), but I definitely should have fleshed out my characters and setting before starting.

I wasted an incredible amount of time rewriting sections because this scene no longer made sense with how I viewed this character or looking up names of streets and other small details about Florence. The majority of the writing didn’t need these details but fixing them took up most of my time.

If I can stress anything in this article, it is this. Know your settings and characters before diving in. Even if you end up not using one or changing it later, this saves so much time (and exasperation) in the long run. This can also be summed up as “do the fucking research!”

Those are the lessons I’ve learned so far, and I’m sure there are more to come. I’ll be happy to recieve them, though, forthat means I’m still writing.