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How It Feels to Be a Published Author

My journey as a writer.

By Chloe GilholyPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
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I've always enjoyed writing ever since I was a child. I loved writing short stories and poetry and English went on to be one of my favourite subjects at school. My first poem was about shells and it was chosen to be published in a Young Writer's Anthology.

Writing always gave me that buzz. All the problems that were going through my head, I could get them out on paper. Things that I wanted to do, but feared of forgetting them, I wrote them down.

When I first got the internet I decided to write some fan fiction after reading so many online. The themes really opened my eyes for me. The first lot of fan fiction that I wrote wasn't very good. Some readers praised my work regardless at the lack of punctuation and grammar whilst other reviewers told me to stop writing and to jump into a burning volcano.

I took no notice of the haters and decided to continue writing as it made me feel like I was on top of something. I found writing to be just as relaxing as yoga and energy burning as going to the gym. I carried on writing and took people's comments into account. Eventually, I got better and became involved in some writing communities.

This year I signed up to do a creative writing course and joined a local writing group. I had written and published many stories, poetry and reviews online, but never plucked the courage to publish a book until now. Since doing the course I started to find inspiration in everything and all the techniques that I learned I developed and crafted my first book: Drinking Poetry.

The process of self-publishing the book was an exhausting process, but one I am grateful for. All the worry of how it will look on an electronic device or in paperback melted away when I ordered a copy to be sent to my house.

It was one of the most exciting moments in my life. I felt as if I had won the lottery. Whilst I haven't made a lot of money with the book, I've received a lot of amazing feedback on how they loved the cover and how clever I am for getting this far.

I'm feeling happy, but also lost at the same time. I really miss the process of scribbling in my Slytherin notebook about all the different kinds of teas and coffees out there and how to convert those thoughts into quirky poems.

Now that my book is available to buy online, I'm wondering where the next step will be. There's a lot of old stories I've written that I would love to get back to and expand, but at the same time, I'm wondering if it's best to make a fresh start.

I've got so many ideas in my head of what my next story will be. The only issue is how will I execute it. Sometimes it sounds really epic in my head, but when it comes to pen-to-paper or keyboard-to-screen it resembles a car crash more than anything else.

I'm currently working on my first novel. I'm about a tenth of the way done with the story. I have a firm idea of how to end it, but trying to think of what happens in the middle and getting from A to B is what I'm struggling with. I'm sure that it will come to me eventually.

Many authors are lucky to have their work published and even luckier to make any sort of money at all. Whilst it's not a lot of money, it's money that I appreciate and will come in handy when I'm saving up to go on holiday.

I have been reading a book called Fields Of Destruction by Stephen Argyle. It's a novel about two war veterans who uncover earth-shattering secrets about the US Government. The author himself was left with permanent disabilities but, like the characters, did not let it be a barrier in his life.

The fact that he was able to complete and publish his novel is a fantastic achievement in itself. I think we can do it; we can all finish and publish that novel we've spent hours writing.

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About the Creator

Chloe Gilholy

Former healthcare worker and lab worker from Oxfordshire. Author of ten books including Drinking Poetry and Game of Mass Destruction. Travelled to over 20 countries.

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