Like, I suspect, many writers, I've had several different "first books" over the years.
There's the novel (actually, probably more like a novella) that I wrote in my teenage years, scribbling words at lunchtimes in the school library and during evenings babysitting. That was the first book I completed.
Then there's the novel I wrote as an undergraduate at university. That was the first book I sent to agents (and eventually gave up on).
Or there's Lycopolis, the novel I wrote during my Creative Writing MA. That's the first novel I published.
I suppose, if you go back far enough, there's also the little "book" I wrote about a mouse when I was 6 or 7. I'm not sure that one counts!
Regardless of what you want to call my "first" book, here are five things I wish I'd known a lot earlier than I did.
1. Writing a Novel is a Lot More Complicated Than Writing a Short Story
When I had a go at writing a novel as a teenager, I approached it like a giant short story. I'd written a good handful of short stories, both for school and for fun, so I figured this was no different.
Writing a novel is a lot more complicated than writing a short story. You can probably hold the plot of a short story (and the details about its cast of characters) in your head. That's a lot trickier to do for a novel.
I'd have definitely made faster progress with my first novel or two if I'd been better at organizing my material: not necessarily planning everything in advance (I'm definitely on the "pantser" end of the planning spectrum), but making more detailed notes along the way about characters, settings, and so on.
2. Writing a Novel Will Take a Serious Amount of Time
Okay, this is one I'm mostly glad I didn't fully realise when I was 14, or I might have given up on being a writer altogether! Writing a novel takes time ... a lot of it.
When I'm working on fiction, I can write about 1,000 words an hour, on a good day. But I can't necessarily keep that up hour after hour. And then there's all the time spent thinking, trying out ideas, scrapping things ... and, of course, lots of rewriting. A finished 1,000 words will have taken multiple hours to get right.
Some novelists turn out a novel every month, or close to it, working full time. Some write one every year, perhaps around other commitments. Some only write one or two novels in a whole lifetime. There's no "right" speed for producing a novel, but chances are, it's going to take you longer than you think, especially for your first book.
3. Writing a Novel is Worth It, Even if Your Novel Isn't Published
Lycopolis was the first novel I published ... but I produced three other novels, in various states of "finished", before I started writing that. I think if you'd told me, aged 14, that I would spend the next 8 years or so working on novels that would never be published, I'd have been horrified! It would have seemed like such a waste.
But writing a novel is well worth it ... even if that novel isn't ever published. However many books you read and courses you take, you're not going to truly learn how to write a novel unless you actually write one.
Plus, there's a huge sense of satisfaction on seeing a novel through from initial idea to completed manuscript. It's a fantastic writing achievement, one to be proud of, even if you (and perhaps a few trusted loved ones) are the only people who ever read it.
4. Writing a Novel is Way More Immersive Than Just Reading One
I don't think many people embark on writing a novel because they think it's a quick path to riches! Instead, most of us are drawn to writing simply because we enjoy it: even, perhaps, that we find it serves some deep need in us.
If you've never written a novel before, you might not know one of the best things about it: that writing a novel is far more immersive than reading one. You know the characters so much more deeply, you live with the story for weeks, months, even years at a time. If you love reading, you'll (hopefully!) love writing just as much and find it an incredibly rewarding experience.
5. Writing a Novel Might Change Your Life In Ways You Don't Expect
Like many other would-be novelists, I'm sure, I used to daydream that writing a novel would change my life. That it would bring me a huge sum of money, that I'd be able to write novels full time and do nothing else (though, deep down, I'm not sure I'd actually want that).
But as it turned out, writing a novel changed my life in a huge and completely unexpected way. When I had a full-time day job, I took part in NaNoWriMo in November 2007, and finished a 50,000+ word novel manuscript. It wasn't a great novel and I wasn't particularly bothered about continuing it ... but I learnt
something huge in the process. I learnt that I could write a significant amount while working full time. (I also managed to train myself to wake up early and write!)
Fast forward a few months, and I was taking on my first freelancing gigs. By summer 2008, I'd quit my day job, started freelancing full time, and was about to embark on a Creative Writing MA. None of that was in my plans when I started NaNoWriMo that year.
If you've never written a full book (whether that's a novel or a non-fiction book) and you'd like to, I'd urge you to give it ago. Yes, it'll be challenging at times ... but I've never heard anyone say that they regretted the journey of writing a book.
