Last week, I had the exciting opportunity to attend Taylor Jenkins Reid’s author signing in Tampa. We don’t get a ton of author signings – at least for authors I’m excited about – here, so it was a thrill to meet her, learn about her newest novel, and hear more about her writing process. In fact, meeting TJR was exactly what I needed to get inspired by my own novel and to understand that most authors, no matter how many books they’ve already written, always have that fear of “oh my god, what am I even doing?”

TJR’s newest book, Daisy Jones & the Six, is an oral history of a fictional band from the 70s, and it’s a book I probably wouldn’t have been totally interested in if TJR wasn’t the author. I’m not much of a music person, nor am I into oral histories (and to be honest, I haven’t read the book yet, so I could end up not liking it!) but the way TJR described this book and her writing process engaged me completely. The most interesting thing I think I learned is that TJR isn’t the biggest music person either, but an idea to write an oral history just popped into her head and she went with it. It meant a lot of research about oral histories and music and drugs (she was really honest about how much she didn’t know about drug culture in the 70s, haha).

I was so inspired by this idea that you actually don’t have to write what you know. That’s what we’re all told, right? The best way to write is to write what you know. Your writing comes from a more authentic place then, it reads more realistically. And it’s not as if I disagree with that advice, but more that I feel like I was given permission to write what inspires me, not just what I’m familiar with. Even if it means many more hours of research and feeling like I’m flailing about. That’s okay because that’s the beauty of the writing process. We get to learn and experiment, discovering new ideas and testing out different characters.

I was inspired by TJR’s writing process, and how she described those hours and hours of trying to get the tone exactly right. I think that’s what’s so complicated about writing, how solitary it is. We just spend so much time in our own heads, crafting dialogue and plot and scenery, and just hoping we’re getting it right. Hoping it’s not boring or unrelatable or straight-up trash. Hoping this thing we’re writing won’t be another Word doc filed away on our computers, but an actual book that people can hold in their hands. A book that can heal or help or charm or entertain or cry over or stun. TJR had this crazy idea and decided to give it a try, but I can only imagine how much she had to fight against her fear and resist that little voice inside her head that told her she wasn’t good enough to write a book like this. We all have this voice, and TJR herself said that she kept thinking that she had no business writing an oral history of a fake 70s rock band. And yet… she did it. She wrote the book. She pushed through the fear. All we see is the polished, final product. We don’t see the blood, sweat, and tears. We don’t know what that first draft looked like. We don’t know how many mornings she woke up, sat down in front of her computer, and couldn’t get started.

During the question-and-answer part of the event, someone asked about TJR’s evolution as a writer. TJR started her career writing contemporary romance. Each book brought to life one of her fears as a newly married woman: what if something happens to my husband? what if we fall out of love? what if? what if? And then… after four sweet romances, she was done. She didn’t have anything left to say. At least in that genre. So, she transitioned to a different genre. She wrote The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and later, Daisy Jones & The Six, two novels that are completely removed from the romance genre. There’s just something so lovely and human in that. It reminds me to stay open and curious. Because romance may be the genre I find myself writing right now, but that doesn’t mean I’ve pigeonholed myself. It doesn’t mean I can’t move into historical fiction or thrillers or dystopian YA in the future.

TJR’s author event was everything I could have wanted. She was a sweet, humble, gracious, and kind person. I couldn’t have asked for anything better! (Okay, perhaps I would have preferred that I hadn’t stumbled over all my words and acted like the most awkward person ever when she signed my books, but alas.)

After having a very successful writing month in January… February did not go so well. It was a combination of feeling mentally unwell and being busy and just letting excuses get in the way of writing. It happens! It’s the reality of trying to write a novel while also working a full-time job, maintaining a blog, and trying to have a social life. But since I am committed to writing these posts and keeping everyone updated on what the novel-writing process really looks like, here’s my honest recap:

Week 5 (January 28 – February 3)

• Words written: 4,046
• Chapters written: 1
• Things researched: “record sleeves,” “vinyl records,” “filched definition,” “unique drinks to make,” “bijou cocktail history,” “affectionate names in french to say to a friend,” “french foods”

I had such a fun time writing this week, even though I had to really challenge myself to sit down and do it. Some weekends, I just don’t want to worry about writing! But alas, as one of my cheerleading coaches once told me when I didn’t go to practice one evening (I was ten, by the way): “This isn’t a ‘want’ thing.” So I sat down and wrote, and lo and behold, it was fun! The whole chapter involved my two characters meeting for the first time and getting to know one another.

During my writing date, I edited chapter 3, which was probably the most difficult chapter to write. Once I finished editing it, I said to my writing partner, “Are you ready to cry your fucking eyes out?” Because that’s basically what this chapter does. Or, at least, that’s what I want this chapter to do. It needs to have an emotional impact, so I wanted to know how she would react to it. And… once I finished reading it, she told me she needed to take a minute because she was so emotional. YASS. Actually, I needed to take a minute, too, because it really was! Whew. But at least I know I’m hitting the right emotional tone with that chapter.

Week 6 (February 4-10)

• Words written: 0
• Chapters written: 0
• Things research: n/a

Oof, I took a zero for this week. I think I just needed a weekend off after five straight weeks of writing and editing all weekend long. It was a good break and I did not feel bad about taking the zero. I was also in the middle of a depressive episode this week, and I just didn’t have the mental stamina to sit down at my laptop and write about a fun and happy romance. Life happens, and I know I’m going to have weeks where writing is impossible.

However, I did end up editing a chapter because I met up with my friend for our weekly writing date and was able to focus enough to read through one of my earlier chapters. This chapter was interesting to edit because I switched between past and present tense throughout this chapter. This is weirdly something I do often when writing. My novel is supposed to be in past tense but I slipped into present tense for a few paragraphs here and there. So… a lot of my editing this week was fixing my tense mistakes. Heh.

Week 7 (February 11-17)

• Words written: 1,503
• Chapters written: 1
• Things researched: n/a

I wrote the majority of this chapter during my writing date because I was a little busy this weekend, as I had adopted Lila and was focused on getting her settled into her new home. 🙂 A good excuse, don’t you think? Thankfully, I still got my chapter for the week done because it was a short chapter. I wasn’t able to edit any of my previous chapters this week, which puts me a little behind. I may need to add in a few extra writing sessions soon so I can catch up.

Week 8 (February 18-24)

• Words written: 0
• Chapters written: 0
• Things researched: n/a

Oops, another goose egg for the month. I don’t even have a great excuse for this one, only that I had a busy weekend and in the free time I did have, I didn’t feel like writing. I feel like I’m getting into more of the “meat” of my story and it’s typical for me to lose steam now. This is when I started really doubting myself and having such resistance to writing. This week, I couldn’t push through the resistance.

During my writing date, M. and I spent the first hour having a super deep conversation about dating, relationships, and the baggage we bring to each. It was cathartic and necessary but it also meant that I didn’t really feel like beginning to write when I knew I only had an hour to get anything down. It’s a silly excuse because getting any words down is better than getting no words down but alas, I did not do so. I think I may add in an extra writing session once a week throughout the month of March to help me catch up from a very lackluster February. Oof.