Fourteen books later, I can say this: I’m still learning.
Every story has stretched me in a different way. But there are a few lessons that keep showing up, book after book.
Here they are.
1. You learn by finishing the next book
I don’t get better by endlessly tweaking old drafts.
I get better by:
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finishing a book
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noticing what I wish I’d done differently
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and using that knowledge in the next one
Each story teaches me something new about pacing, emotion, structure, or character. The growth comes from moving forward.
2. Readers remember how the story made them feel
I love my worlds and magic systems, but the messages I get from readers aren’t about rules or maps.
They say things like:
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“I connected with this character.”
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“This gave me hope.”
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“I needed this right now.”
That’s my reminder that characters and emotions matter most. The magic just gives them a place to live.
3. There’s no “right” pace—only one you can sustain
Some books draft fast.
Some take their time.
My pace changes with:
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the story
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my health
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my family’s needs
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and everything else going on
What matters is not matching someone else’s speed. It’s finding a rhythm I can keep going without burning out.
4. The process is rarely neat
Publishing isn’t a straight line. It looks more like:
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write
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realize something’s missing
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revise
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fix the thing you broke by fixing another thing
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send to editor
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revise again
It’s normal to have messy middles, late changes, and days where the book feels impossible. That doesn’t mean it’s failing. It just means it’s a real book in progress.
5. Readers make the hard work worth it
The messages, emails, and in-person comments still surprise me.
When someone says:
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they stayed up late to finish
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they saw themselves in a character
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they were grateful for clean fantasy they could share
—it makes all the time, doubt, and revision suddenly feel worth it.
Those moments are the fuel that carries me into the next project.
6. You don’t have to feel ready to keep going
I didn’t feel “ready” for book two.
Or book ten.
Or fourteen.
Most of the time, I just take the next small step:
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write the next scene
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fix the next problem
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send the book to the next stage
The feeling of being “ready” rarely comes first. It usually shows up somewhere along the way.
If you’re working on your first book—or your fifteenth—I hope this encourages you a little:
You don’t have to know everything.
You just have to keep going.
And as always,
may your reading (and writing) be magical. ✨