I knew writing a novel was hard, but it’s…HARD.

Four years ago, the idea of a book popped into my head. After hearing a friend tell me a hilarious story of how she met a man overseas, we laughed naming actors and actresses we would want to play her and her onscreen love and I thought to myself, this would make a great movie…this would make a GREAT book. I asked her if she would be happy for me to use her as the inspiration for the novel I had been longing to write and thankfully she said yes. I called my Mum straight away. ‘Mum, I finally have the plot to start writing my novel! Let me tell you all about it…’ 

Four years later, here I am with no manuscript written and honestly, not even the first chapter complete; and me, feeling like a complete failure. Look, I get it. Life gets in the way. A full-time job, social life, wanting to spend time with my husband, spending ALL THE TIME with my husband during a series of lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 and then spending most of 2022 buying our first house and conceiving/raising my now 11-month-old daughter; things weren’t exactly lowkey. My naivety even let me believe I would be able to sit down and write a full novel whilst on maternity leave but alas…I have a BABY on my hands, come on now! So here we are, four years after this brilliant idea popped into my head and a phone call to my mother proclaiming that I was finally able to start working towards being a published author and I have nothing to show for it. Don’t get me wrong, I have thought about writing this book almost every day for the past four years and have told myself over and over ‘Once (insert reason) is done I’ll be able to write’; but sadly, I have produced nothing.

Okay, lie, I have produced 2000 words, so half of the first chapter. But when you do a cheeky calculation, 2000 words over four years is 500 words a year and is that a novel? Spoiler alert, it isn’t even a blog post! Of course, self-pity and procrastination have entered centre stage waving their little jazz hands and doing a little tap number to remind me I have not achieved what I have set out to do, and kindly suggesting that I peace out stop trying, and go back to watching The Real Housewives (and by gum am I a pro at that). No one need know right? Just bow out gracefully and return to life as usual. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Honestly, the whole point of telling my mother was so the more people who knew, the more people were waiting for me to complete this project. Now, thankfully everyone is very patient with me, but knowing that at least 10 of my closest people are aware I am doing this, I can’t let them down either! Also, when you have a dream, you chase it right? Every day my return to work gets closer and closer and all I could think of is if I had a job, I was passionate about, I could stay home and hopefully make a comfy living doing something I love. 

This is when it all hit me, once 2024 started, I realised I was returning to work this year (September) and now my little one was a bit older and more manageable in some ways, I knew this was the year I had to start writing, once and for all, whether it takes me three months, six months, the whole year it does not matter, a book will be written! I know this is a really long winded story of saying I haven’t written anything ‘but I will’ but I guess I hope that if you also have a writing goal that has slipped to the wayside a little, at least you know you are not alone and if anything maybe this will also be the motivation you need to, like me, try again; and I have come up with a plan on HOW to try again.

1. For a start, small word count goals. 500 words a day was initially my plan but let me tell you that’s about a chapter a week and whilst some people are superheroes and can achieve such a thing, I have not been able to. So let me make a goal of 500 words a week for now and anything extra is a bonus
2. If you head to my Instagram, I have started a weekly post (and by started, as of 6 March 2024, it’s the one post) updating my word count and I will write a post here about what ups and downs of a week of writing. It’s all about the habit and the accountability. I know that I want to write and now you know I want to write and now we all know that once a week I must tell you what I’ve been up to…so I’d better make it worth it!
3. If I don’t write every day then I must (try to) read something from the genre I am writing in and/or write in my writer’s journal. It’s important to think about what I’m writing, get ideas and expand my knowledge on the subject.
4. Don’t be so hard on myself. Consistency is key and consistency is not the same level every day. So long as I am doing something, even small, towards my goal I’m still achieving something.

So, I guess that’s a point. Breaking a big goal down into even smaller (than before) steps. This won’t get me to where I want to be as fast as before, and maybe that is the whole point. Maybe my (and your) journey wasn’t meant to be a face paced, race to the finish line project. Who knows if a manuscript will be ready by 2025 but at least if I stick to the above, I’m well on my way to…something ❤