I recently did the math and realized I wrote 12 full length novels. Not counting complete rewrites and translations, edits or novellas. 12 fully “original” novels, from start to finish, all 70+k words.

I think I can talk about this with some confidence.

People who follow my excellent Instagram might have noticed I’ve been working on something for the last month.

So, I’m presenting to you a case study of one novella I wrote this summer. Mutually Assured Destruction is a story about Elman, a very famous and deeply closeted depressed rapper struggling with the feelings he has for his costar Abdulah who wants to end the secret affair they’ve had for years.

Note: Not everything is going to work for you. This is how I do it and it works for me. I’m not a professional writer. I’m actually a veterinarian, so like… But I did write 12 novels, so something might be useful for you.

1. The idea
   • This is either the hardest or the easiest part of the job. We all have that friend or cousin who is like “I have this great idea for an epic fantasy saga. It’s going to be the new Game of Thrones dude, just trust me”, but they will never write it. But, sometimes, the idea can be the most difficult part to come up with. At least an idea that actually makes you want to write.
   • In the case of “Mutually Assured Destruction, the idea came from me joking with friends. “Haha, wouldn’t it be funny if someone wrote this?”
   • No, it wasn’t funny. I am being very vague about the real inspiration here because I would like to not get my legs broken anytime soon and I’m already scared of people of Mostar.
   • I wrote it down into my list of ideas for future projects, but with the stress of PhD and my inability to write this year, it really didn’t seem it would happen any time soon. Until…
2. The spark
   • This is one of my favorite parts of writing and honestly, of living. The moment you brain connects the dots and you realize you’re actually going to do it.
   • After a five hour long bus ride, I finally reached Sarajevo, carrying a suitcase and bags, tired as one could be. I couldn’t get a taxi and I decided to walk. A kilometer and a half, that’s nothing for a proud European such as myself. And then I saw it, a small graffiti, if you can call it that, just a signature on a traffic sign, probably some kid.
   • “Elman, that would be a good name for my character.”
   • Something happened in my brain in an instant. During that twenty minute walk, dragging luggage behind me, ideas kept popping up in my brain. The other character: Abdulah, that made so much sense. The opening scene, the end. By the time I reached home, I knew this would actually happen.
   • Sometimes, idea and the spark come together, it really depends on the situation, but you know it’s there when you can’t imagine not doing it.
3. The hype
   • I write my ideas by hand, on pen and paper. My apartment is full of little notebooks in which you can see the development of my stories.
     In this case, I cracked open a brand new notebook, which is how you know I was serious, and got to work. I was just writing down ideas and characters. Mostly concepts. Who is Elman and what does he want? How long have he and Abdulah been together? What are their goals? What do I want to happen?
     Since this is a fairly straight forward contemporary story, I didn’t need world building in your classical sense. I didn’t need to come up with magical races and deadly weapons. But, even a contemporary story needs its world built. What are the names of their albums? How popular are they? How do they make their money? Why are they hiding?
4. The outline
   • Not all writers use an outline, but I get lost without one. I swear to god, I can’t write an email if I don’t have it (I am writing this without one, which is strange).
   • When I’m satisfied with the ideas and plot points on paper and when the devil won’t let me rest, it’s time to open a new document on my computer and write an actually outline. Here, I take care about how long I want the work to be, a short story, a novella or a novel. I think about what I want to happen and what I need to add to make a connection between different ideas and plot points.
   • I think where are better ways, but I’m a stubborn donkey and this is how I do it. I divide the work into chapters and think about what needs to happen. For example, here, I knew I wanted the first chapter to be about the filming of a video. I knew I wanted a concert scene. I knew I wanted the ex boyfriend coming to Elman’s rescue. I knew I wanted the final fight, the scenes of debauchery. And I knew how I wanted it to end.
   • As I write the outline, new ideas come to mind. I like to think my brain knows them already and it’s just waiting for me to catch up. Sometimes, I add actual sentences I want to see. For example, this is the outline for the first chapter
     • We open on the day they are filming a video for their seventh album. Elman is getting danced on, a girl is twinkling on him as he’s smoking a Cuban cigar. His head hurts, he’s hung over. He knows the dancer. She’s studying to be a biologists. Too young, he feels bad. 
     • He keeps glancing at Abdulah, who is rapping next to him. The whole music and the video is lame. He is embarrassed to be a part of it, but it will bring them more money. Abdulah ignored his messages last night. Now, with the video done, he corners him in the bathroom. 
     • “Why did I have to find out about your engagement from a tabloid?”
     • It doesn’t matter. This is just about sex, it always has been.
   • Always, and I mean always, I half ass the middle chapters in the outline. I know how I write. I know I will let the ideas change and flourish and that the characters will let me know what they want to happen. I will come up with new plot points, new ways to get to the destination. It’s their story, so I’ll let them tell it to me themselves.
5. The Writing
   • Everyone knows that writing is the worst part of being a writer. Well, sometimes.
   • I’m using this as an example because it really was effortless. I started the outline and the hype on Friday and by Sunday morning, I was already working on the first chapter. The outline is my guide, but I let the characters and the world change it. I am not and will never the the type of writer who can tell you everything about their world before they begin the story. I like the discovery.
6. The hype train
   • Depending on the length of the story and what you’re tying to do, at some point, the adrenaline is going to wear off and writing will become a chore. If you’re a semi professional writer like me (and you’re not terribly depressed), you can turn this into a routine, a job, something you have to do. But, you can also try to recreate that hype. Many ways to go about it. I’m using “Mutually Assured Destruction” as an example because it was incredibly easy to get myself hyped.
   • Tell your friends what you’re working on! For some reason, my friends encouraged me to write this like nothing before. They really thought I wouldn’t do it and when they realized I was actually going forward with it, they wouldn’t let me stop. I think it was very funny to them I was taking this ideas 100% seriously and wanted to see how it would go. They asked questions, helped with the outline when I was stuck, asked for samples.
   • But, you have to be your own fanbase too. I made a playlist, moodboard, googled famous cars and brands, even made this wonderful fanart of Elman and Abudalh as meme cats.
   • I also made a playlist, because I’m a simple creature.
   • The fact I was (and still am) procrastinating editing my PhD really helped too, as everything and I mean everything is more interesting at this moment to me than writing about fish fraud. Procrastination is such a wonderful motivation!
   • For a smaller project like this one, or when you’re doing something like NaNoWriMo (rest in peace, you were a good idea), you might do it in one swing. Other times, you will have to take breaks when you run out of steam.
   • Yes, I have two half finished novels in my drive. Yes, I plan to finish them by the end of the year. Maybe. Possibly… Look, it was a long and strange nine months.
7. The end
   • Sooner or later, all good things come to an end. I started working on this blog while I was a chapter and a half away from end and if you’re reading this, it means I’m done with the first draft.
   • Writing an ending is always difficult for me. It feels like an end of an era. I don’t want to leave these characters and this world. What if I’m not capable of writing anything ever again? (asks Neira, author of 12 books). This story is a bit different with its tragic ending. I keep thinking “maybe I can make it work, Maybe Elman can be happy”, but he can’t. I like having happy ending for my story, but this doomed toxic yaoi was always going to have only one end.
   • (yes, I like the Weekend and Drake at their most pathetic and the early works of that one rapper who should really get some help).
8. The edit
   • You are done, but you’re also not done. Not even close. Some writers go back and edit their work as they write, making sure their first drafts are actually their twelfth and thus pretty great to begin with. I’m not doing that. I will go back and reread it, edit things that are really annoying me or are contradictory with the things coming later, but I know I’m going to have to edit this regardless. As I said, this isn’t about editing, we’ll talk about that later, but I always suggest leaving it to ferment for some time. Don’t do what I do and forget about them (I’m talking about you ZomCom, still in my documents two years later, still a mess, despite being one of the best ideas I ever had), but come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes.
   • This draft is actually a lot cleaner than my usual ones, so that’s something. Maybe those 11 novels I wrote are actually doing something and I’m actually becoming a decent writer…
9. The bragging
   • I did it. I wrote another novella. Do you want to hear what it’s about? Of course you do.
   • I’m not even kidding, this is an important step as if can get you motivated to actually edit it.

So, this is how I got from an empty page to a 27k words long novella in less than a month (while also editing my PhD). I have a lot more work ahead, but I’m happy with how it turn out and I wanted to share my experience, in hopes of helping one of you.
Empty page is the scariest thing in the world, I know. Sadly, no matter how much we want it to, it won’t get full on its own. We are the ones who need to write the words. And words are what make it less scary because it gets easier the more you write, it really does.
So, come on, let’s do this!