Writer’s Club: Your Questions Answered #1
On things I've learned since publishing my first book, and where I get my ideas from
Q: Looking back at that first period when your first book was acquired to when it was finally published, what would be the most important advice you would give yourself, knowing what you know now? – Deepa Paul
A: My first book was non-fiction, and there is a difference between fiction and non-fiction in terms of writing and the publishing process. For instance even though by the time I wrote my first fiction, I had published three non-fiction books, I still made new learnings.
The first and most important piece of advice is to stop thinking of your first draft as the finished piece. A lot of writers get stuck on details that end up being insignificant in the grand scheme of things – this can range from chapter titles to story arcs, characters or structure. With my first non-fiction book, Chase The Rainbow, we reworked most of the structure in the second draft so that it flowed better, and with my third non-fiction book Stronger, it ended up being an entirely different book due to the pandemic.
Originally I was meant to visit lots of grassroots sports communities, which I couldn’t do. Instead, I made it a book about different types of strength and ended up interviewing over 50 people because everyone was in lockdown and had nothing better to do, and it ended up being a more inclusive book because of it.
Feeling that need to make things perfect from the beginning can often feel terrifying, and so my advice would be to remember that no one’s first work is perfect, and that generally book writing is a long game, not about explosive success.
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