How to Use Your First Writing Experience to Become Stronger
Your first time writing a book can be immensely scary. The thoughts will start racing around your brain. You progress through the writing process, putting your thoughts into words. When this is your first writing venture, that could be scary. But, at the end of the process, you did it; you wrote a book.
If you enjoyed your experience writing and publishing your debut book, what comes next? Do you want to continue your life as an author? If that is the case, you will want to start writing as soon as an idea comes to you.
Whether you want to write a direct follow-up to your first book or something entirely new, your writing will evolve. You can use your first experience to elevate and advance your writing in all aspects. The tips and tricks from your first book can be invaluable when writing your second. This article will discuss some of the ways your first book will inform your second book.
Elevate Your Writing Style
When you write a book for the first time, you are new to it. Some debut books are stellar and regarded as literary classics. No matter how good someone’s first book is, their style will evolve with experience. This evolution might be of the same quality, but it is still a change. These changes can be about content, style, themes, age range, or anything else. It is the natural progression of a writer’s journey.
For your second book, do not shy away from honing your writing, whether in the same or a different genre. You do not want your writing to become stale or static over time. If you keep your writing fresh from the very beginning of your journey, you are on track for success. Never sacrifice your authenticity — learn more about yourself as a writer as you gain experience.
Embrace and Listen to Your Audience
While we often write for ourselves, as a published author, you are also writing for the general public. Without these readers, your book will stay private to you. Gaining this audience is one of the most satisfying parts of being published. You get to send your book into the world and know that people are reading it.
Do not be afraid to embrace your newfound audience. These are the people who will have the most honest and valuable feedback to your work. Feedback from those close to you are important for personal reasons, but the public is different. Your new audience are people who discover your writing because of what you write. As such, their feedback is worth listening to.
You do not want to repeat yourself too much, just lean into what best works about your writing. This is something you can learn from learning from and interacting with your reader. They are the ones who like your writing and will come back for more.
Learn from Other Authors and Industry Folks
Besides your readers, you will meet many people in the publishing industry who can help you along your journey. From publishing your first book, you will be able to hone your networking skills. The people you meet are those with experience, likely more than you have. Their experience will be invaluable in giving you advice. You might even learn things about writing and publishing that you had never considered.
From fellow authors, they can read your work and offer their feedback. As authors themselves, they understand what makes for a good book. Likewise, you can give them feedback. This cycle can be an invaluable tool in networking and building close relationships with other writers.
You will also meet publishing executives, illustrators, editors, and others while publishing your first book. While offering different types of advice, these people can help you significantly. They can give you advice on marketing, notes on your manuscript, information about metrics, and general guidance. Fostering these relationships will help you immensely during the publishing process of your second book when you know the ropes.
Improve Your Marketing Going Forward
After your book is published, it is time to market the book. When you publish your first book, this can be a daunting experience. During that marketing process, you will learn the how, where, when, and who of book promotion. For first-time authors, it can be a shock.
When approaching your second book’s promotion, you will have a headstart from your prior experience. Publishers will often give you a preliminary boost — i.e., social media posts, a website, promotional materials, press releases, etc. However, it is incumbent upon you as the author to get your book in front of the masses. There can be a learning curve when you start marketing your first that eases with the second.
It is crucial to use and analyze all your experiences from writing and publishing your first book. If you are interested in writing more books, you will learn immensely from this. Your debut book was only a launchpad for the rest of your life as an author.
