Jun 27, 2022
…Why I Decided to Write Another Book (Writing Two Books in Two Years)
As an author and full-time writer, it’s not long after we publish our stories, share our labors of love, before we are asked by our friends, family, fellow readers and fan-base on the regular: “When’s your next book coming out? What’s next?” Stories live in our minds rent free, until we eventually decide to put them down with a pen and on paper to reveal with others. However, the timing of this is unique to each author and is often beautifully timed.
Rewinding back to the end of 2020, when I published my first book, a memoir titled Beyond Life’s Moments, I always had the firm intention to write and publish more stories but when exactly or how so I didn’t know. I thought a good couple year break from publishing another book or pursuing another major writing journey would be refreshing, especially after an entire year of misery, cooped up due to COVID-19 and quarantine, but to my initial instincts and utter disbelief, I ended up publishing my second book in 2022.
Two books in two years?! (And during the two most earth-shattering, defining time periods of our lives, mind you).
I still cannot believe myself, but I’ll spill the reasons why I decided to dive right back into the book writing journey once again.
The ultimate intention behind writing Beyond Life’s Moments was to pursue my dreams of publishing a book, one day. It was a dream that was almost nine years in the making, become too heavy to carry much longer on my shoulders and that needed to be relinquished once and for all. It was a story that I wanted to share originally with family and close friends, imagining that one day someone else will receive some much-needed comfort, reassurance, confidence, and hope… to make sure they know that they are not alone throughout their life’s challenging chapters and that it gets better — way better.
I wrote on that book entirely through 2020 — it was my quarantine project, my saving grace. It was what literally got me up in the morning every day. It gave me something purposeful, enjoyable, and positive to do when the rest of the world went dark. Once I had my books in the hands of my readers at the beginning of 2021, my shift went from writing to marketing full-time, leveraging myself as a first-time author and inspiring storyteller. And while I had several programming events from the likes of podcasts, webinars, and hybrid-style workshops to occupy my time with to promote my first book, it wasn’t enough for me.
What do I mean by that?
While I was still actively doing work for my book to promote my story, it wasn’t writing. Sure, I journal daily but that’s different from an intense writing endeavor such a publishing a book. It wasn’t spontaneous brainstorming sessions using every color pen and several scraps of paper. It wasn’t long hours typing away at my desk at dusk and dawn. It wasn’t pouring my heart and soul into the very evolving pages of a story that had yet to be told. I wasn’t content with not working on the next story, the next writing journey.
I came to the astonishing realization that an expectation that is thrown onto of the shoulder of those who are artists and produce creative works that isn’t in the unofficial job description is having multiple works, more than one for your audience, readers, listeners, etc.
Your work is never done; there’s more of your talent to be shared with the rest of the world.
Why do you think so many musicians release more than one song and album?
Why do you think so many writers or authors lean into various writing platforms: blogs, featured writers for magazines, screenplays, and/or more books that could be standalones or part of a series?
Why do you think comedians and dance crews need to have more than one routine?
With this realization, I knew that a second book would be in the foreseeable future, on the brain, but when it was going to come into fruition was still an unknown.
At the time, I didn’t have any pressing ideas or burning thoughts to spill out, nothing tugging at my heartstrings. Additionally, there were several other unknowns that I didn’t have any clear thoughts on such as:
Would I write another memoir or try an entire new genre?
Could I keep things consistent and write about the same topic or explore something new?
Should I submit my draft manuscript to the same publisher or a different one?
The answers to these questions come to us writers at different points along the creative process journey. But for me, they all came to be simultaneously at once.
Let’s fast-forward back to the middle of 2021 — late spring and early summertime specifically — the second phase of emerging from the pandemic when things seem to become a little brighter, more hopeful, and promising.
What would have appeared to be typical, seamless, and right-of-passage events in our lives on the surface turned into sleepless nights, racing thoughts and heart palpitations for me… and for others in my generation too. Initially, it made me wonder if anyone else has experienced something similar, have wrestled with comparable dilemmas, and felt burdened by the same uncomfortable, gut-wrenching feelings. I fell deep into a well of self-doubt, insecurities, and depression that made me question everything about my identity- my authenticity. It impacted my emotional well-being, my appetite, my mood and how I talked about as well as viewed myself.
I couldn’t stop thinking about these experiences, leaning into my journal to process my complex state of growing up. It ached within my heart in the worst and best ways possible. It was a topic has never been breached onto the pages of a book, regardless of genre. It was an idea that probably most people have thought of more than once in their lifetime but don’t have the words to put it into a concrete story. And I wasn’t the only one wrestling with this stage of our lives, these emotions, these perplexing thoughts, etc.
But I saw a need — an opportunity to explore this topic firsthand simultaneously as my generation was navigating it with me — it was defining our future.
Exploring this topic in the light of the fiction genre allowed me to wear multiple hats: a writer, an active participant, and a scientist. I went about creating characters — their backstories, personalities, and struggles — and like an experiment place them into a multitude of scenarios with a variety of variables and see how it would play out. I placed them all in a controlled setting that I was very familiar with — Pittsburgh during the COVID-19 pandemic. And I leaned into the creation of this narrative to uncover the truth, to learn for myself, how to navigate this topic and apply the very teaching moments my characters were learning into my own life.
Writing this story, with ideas relentlessly swirling in my mind and the drive to find the answers, gave me so much needed closure in my own life. It relinquished the anxiety I had related to this topic. It helped me regain my confidence and not doubt who I am. It also became the living proof that I should never stop writing, for it helps me navigating the challenging chapters of my life, whether I write in verse, third person or first person.
It’s yet another reason why I will never stop writing… and being a storyteller.
And that’s why when I’m asked what’s the biggest piece of advice I would like to share with first-time authors, I say what rings true to me every day, especially with now both of my books:
“Sometimes, the person who needs to read your story the most is yourself.”
Just because The Reason Why I… article series has wrapped doesn’t mean that story doesn’t live on. Keep the story going by joining Emma on her journey towards self-acceptance and self-love in the new release, “The Reason Why,” which is out now and available where most books are sold — Amazon, Barnes & Noble and more. Check out it today and dive into your beyond!
Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZPWQFLX
