Brooke Abrams's Blog

The thing is, writing a book is so much cheaper than going back to school.

After I had my third and last baby, I somehow arrived to the decision that I was either going to back to school to get my doctorate in education, or I was going to finally publish a book. Writing a book was something I always planned on doing. Getting published was inevitable, like getting gray hair. It would happen when the time was right. Ultimately, I decided that the right time was when my daughter was four months old, which in hindsight was bananas.

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My first few attempts at writing a complete book were trash. Rather than learning how to plot and understand story structure before trying to actually create a story, I decided I would do all of it together, one Alexa Donne YouTube video at a time.

I was impatient, but not without reason. Throughout my life I had started and never finished dozens of stories, and I think there was this innate fear nagging at me that I’m not ever actually finish. That’s a fear for me that’s never actually gone away. Finishing a book— even a bad one— is hard AF. It’s like being dropped off in the middle of a forrest without a compass. (Truth be told, a compass wouldn’t help me at all if I was lost in a forest, but for sake of metaphor, this works.)

During this time I became active on Twitter and through that learned about an online writing mentorship program called Pitch Wars. Pitch Wars had a pretty impressive reputation for launching new authors by pairing them with successful writers and later connecting with literary agents during a showcase. I was determined to apply to the program. Never mind the fact that I didn’t actually have a completed book to apply with.

At the time, I was working on drafting a historical fiction novel based on my grandmother’s early life. My intentions were good, but I had no business writing a book set in the 1930s in Mexico City. Writing a book like that requires keen research and skill, both of which I possessed virtually none of. Nevertheless, I persisted because that’s the breed of stubborn and delusion I am. I ended up turning in a very shitty first draft into the 2018 PitchWars competition, and I was damn near certain that I would get it.

Reader, I did not get in.

But I did make friends, and a few mentors reached out to me about my book— if you could even call it a book— and that was just enough motivation for me to keep going.

I scrapped my historical fiction book and decided to write a rom com.

That rom com changed my life.

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I’m doing all of this because of Alexa Donne.

If you’re not familiar with who Alexa Donne is, you should be. I stumbled onto her YouTube channel five years ago when I decided that I was going to learn how to write a book. YouTube taught me how to crochet and apply liquid eyeliner. Clearly, it could teach me how to write. YouTube didn’t, but Alexa did. The woman taught me how to write and finish a story, and make it make sense.

https://www.youtube.com/@AlexaDonne

If you want to learn how to write, she’s who you go to.

One of the things that I looked forward to every January was Alexa’s writing goals video. I loved that she’d come up with specific challenges for her craft to help her grow as a writer. Last year she stepped away from YouTube. You can find her on the Tok now. But I was sorta holding out hope that she might release another goals video, for old time’s sake and whatnot. So far, no dice.

But the thing is…I think I want to carry on the tradition.

And not just the goal setting. I really want to create content in different forms to help new writers figure out how to do this damn writing thing. It’s a hard, lonely road trying to create a book, but it doesn’t have to be. I mean, it still has to be hard in order to be worth anything. At least, that’s what Jimmy Dugan says.

P.S. DO NOT sleep on the new A League of Their Own on Prime. It’s a brilliant, gay masterpiece.

I digress. Back to writing.

I’ve mentored in two separate programs (PitchWars and AuthorMentor Match- also created by Alexa Donne. I swear I’m not obsessed with her), and both times I really liked sharing my knowledge and experience with new writers. So, I think we’re going to do that here now because…

To kick things off, here are my 2023 writing goals.

Disclaimer: I think it’s really important to have goals that are both within your control and outside of your control. You can control the amount of pages you write in a year (mostly), but you can’t control whether or not you’ll get an agent or a pub deal. Having both types of goals will help keep you motivated, and motivation is important because without it, what are we other than decaying, taco eating, flesh sacks?

The Goals

I want to complete two adult manuscripts this year.

I learned recently that I can actually write pretty fast. I basically NANO’d an entire book in 2.5 weeks. (Do Not Recommend). But I think I can manage two new adult manuscripts. Bonus points if one gets to follow another character in the Penelope in Retrograde universe.

I want to complete and sub a YA manuscript.

I’ve got the best concept that I’ve wanted to write for three years now, and I think this year will finally be the one. It’s a re-telling of a cult classic film from the early 90s, with a supernatural twist. GAHHH! I want to scream about this one so bad.

I want to build up my social media and online writing presence.

Once upon a time in the early 2010s, I was a mommy blogger, and I did all the social media things. I have friends that I made online through my blog and Facebook that I’m still in contact with today. I would love more meaningful connections in my writing space.

Sell two books.

I know. I know. It’s not a controllable goal, but I’m feeling ambitious, and honestly, I need my writing to pay off financially for my family. So while I can’t control if my current publisher options another book from me, I know that creating more for my agent to put out on submission ultimately improves my odds of achieving this goal.

Those are the goals, and that wraps up my first official post.

Cheers!

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