Stamped by Nyx

In just two weeks, my dark fantasy debut novel, ‘Remember The Moon,’ will officially be released to the public!

It was a project in the making for several years. A lot of procrastination, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, delusions of grandeur, ego stroking, and much more was involved. I can honestly say that a lot of the negativity came from my self-doubt, but I pushed through to make my (current) crown creation.

I drew inspiration from as many places and people as I could, because a good fantasy story–for me–has slight relations to the real world. Something magical and fantastical with something I can relate to in some way. And as a writer, it makes some of my profound experiences even more amazing. Now, not everything I write has a personal story to me, but it might have a story that someone else can relate to no matter how big or small.

With all that being said, here are 3 things I learned while writing ‘Remember The Moon’.

1~ Just write, even if it’s half-baked

‘Remember The Moon’ started out as a half-baked idea with no clear direction (like me, at the time). I had enough of something to write a couple paragraphs of one thing, which turned into a few pages of another, and that turned into quite a bit of chapters for another–it goes on, but I’m pretty sure you get the gist.

I’m not exactly sure what the mental turning point was for me to gather all my half-baked and mostly-baked ideas to create a full on story, but it happened. Several different title changes and character name changes later, I had one of my first manuscripts that I could fully edit. I learned about my distaste of editing that day, however, it bettered my writing in the long run.

Whenever I had an idea, I either wrote it down on one of the many pieces of paper I came to lose, or I hoped that I would still remember it in several hours. Many of those ideas came to be in the book–if you were to ask me which one’s were those ideas, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I didn’t really have character sheets, or plot outlines, or stuff like that. Majority of the time, I just wrote what I was feeling in the moment because my story and characters had a mind of their own.

If I took the time to really stop to think about what I was writing, I would end up psyching myself out and never write.

2~ Be okay with not having everything together or not knowing what the next move is.

When writing, you’ll see a lot about having everything planned out–characters, plot, world-building, etc.. I’m not saying to not have those things planned out, but I am saying that it’s okay not to have it planned out beforehand. If that’s how you roll, cool–if not, that’s cool too.

A lot of my planning and plotting happened while I was actively writing. I didn’t have a set end goal, but I did have a set of end goals. Confusing, I know. Just bear with me.

For each scene I wrote, I wrote on vibes alone. Some chapters surprised even me as I created them. There were weeks and days where I didn’t write a single thing because I didn’t know what to do next or where I wanted things to end up. I wanted my two main characters (MCs) needed to be in Blackfir and find Rolim Venbanice before I could even consider ending the book. I also wanted this, that, and the other to be included.

My plotting and planning was vibes and a cacophony of random ideas.

3~ Striving for perfection is a fool’s errand. Strive for progress instead.

Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. If you’re looking for everything to be perfect before publishing, or simply while writing, look no further. Literally.

Like I’ve said many times before, I know my writing isn’t the best nor is it perfect. It’s something I’ve had to come to terms with, otherwise I would’ve never gotten anything as far as it is now, let alone finished. The more I write, the better it will be. I’m learning from my “short-comings” in ‘Remember The Moon’ so I can better write Book 2, and every book thereafter.

My self-doubt and imposter syndrome always starts with these things:

-Will people even like my book?

–What if people make fun of me because of my book?

–Did I even do a good job? Should I just take it down?

The list goes on, but again, I think you get the gist.

There will be people who don’t like your book. You will be made fun of because of your book. And you did do a good job–a great job, even. I can tell you these things because I’m telling myself the same exact shit.

Even the greats face scrutiny. So will you. So will I. Even if you don’t publish or tell anyone what your goals are, they’re still going to talk bad about you behind your back because they can. C’est la vie.

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