Lessons from Liberator

My first novel, Liberator, came out back in February.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the results, especially as I did almost nothing from a marketing perspective. I'm also reflective of what a learning experience it was.

While I had been writing professionally for about fifteen years, I hadn't written a novel before. I was unprepared for the difference in writing styles. However, it laid the foundation for change in other areas of my life that were surprising. It set me up for serving in new ways at church: Immediately after Liberator was finished, I jumped right into editing my Pastor's first book—also a tremendous experience.

As I'm revising my second novel for release in March 2022, I wanted to quantify some of the lessons I learned on Liberator and share them with you. I also hope to crystallize them so I can apply them to my other books. In all honesty, I'm probably writing this more for me than you.

Lesson 1: When You Think You're Done, You're Really Just On Step Two

Revising Liberator was the pits. I thought I'd have a good book after about three revisions of the entire manuscript. Nah, it was more like fifteen, and there're still things about the finished product that get on my nerves. Thankfully, I'm honored by how many people started the book, finished it, and said they were entertained by it.

Lesson 2: Write in Bursts

For the first three years, Liberator was a project I just dinked around on. I had maybe three complete chapters, and they were 'whatever' in terms of quality.

Once I got serious, I wrote seven-eighths of the book in under a year.

Once I revised heavily, very little of those first three chapters were left.

I discovered a drafting process that works for me. It's the Anthony Trollope method: I set a fifteen-minute timer and wrote 250 words minimum. After the timer finished, I reset it and started again until I had a draft. The resulting copy was usually total mush; Liberator's first draft was an immense dumpster fire.

But, thankfully . . .

Lesson 3: Writing Isn't Writing. Revision Is Writing.

Revision's a grind, but it's worth it.

Shannon Hale said, "When writing the first draft, I have to remind myself constantly that I'm only shoveling sand into a box so later I can build castles." 

I couldn't love that quote more. Revising is so much easier on the soul than staring down a blank page.

Outlining’s not my thing. I can't evaluate my story as a whole until after I have the first draft. I've learned that these writers are called "pantsers" and that there's nothing wrong with working that way.

Lesson 4: Write Longer Books

I submitted Liberator to a few agents. One wrote a very kind rejection letter stating that my book was less than half the length of a typical thriller. I'd aimed for 55K-60K rather than 100K-ish—quite a miscalculation.

For a while, I considered expanding it but concluded it'd be easier just to write another book.

While the new book in 2022 will be about 60K words, it's the first part of a trilogy.

Conclusion

Thankful for Liberator and the beginnings of a new venture as a novelist, one that I'm taking an immense amount of pleasure in. It definitely doesn't seem to be a "one and done" pursuit. I hope the results will be a blessing to you.