Done!

Today I finally did what I've been talking about doing for ages and ages. I self-published my novel on Amazon as an ebook. I wish I could say I'm excited. I wish I could say I feel like I accomplished something. Okay, maybe I'm a little excited, but mostly I'm nervous.

What if I missed some glaring typos? What if the fact that I put it under my own name causes an issue? What if I decide later that I want to change something that happens in the story? Ahh!

Okay, Joy, calm down. Of course it isn't perfect. It's a creative work, and no piece of art is "perfect" because art is subjective. Also, I can do better with the sequel. (Yep, the sequel is already in the planning stages.)

What did I learn from my first complete novel writing experience?

• Writing a rough draft is easy. It's the revision and editing that take the most time and cause the most anxiety. 
• Beta readers are a nice idea, but, well...all my friends have very busy lives. The feedback that I did get from them was valuable, though. 
• It helps to take notes. No matter how well I thought I knew my story, I would forget little details along the way. It helps to make a document map to easily reference what I've written before. 
• I'm not as horrible at writing as I thought I was. 
• I'm not as good at writing as I thought I was. 
• I have a thing with adverbs. I used WAY too many in the first drafts. Especially the words "just" and "really." Really, who needs all that nonsense cluttering up the prose? 
• I'm also in love with incomplete sentences. 

I also learned some things about myself. Writing is nice therapy. Sometimes I would find myself writing something and realize a connection with my real life that I never thought about before. I think everyone should write a novel. It's kind of an eye-opening experience. 

Overall, I guess I'm satisfied. I didn't write this novel because I wanted to make money or show off my mad writing skills. I wrote it because I love to write and don't want to be afraid to share my writing with others. (I used to harbor a unreasonable fear of people reading my work. I would only work late at night when there was no chance of someone looking over my shoulder.) 

Well...bust out the confetti, I guess. 

I'm excited to see what happens next. 

(By the way, the title is The Legend of Blaerick Blackheart. That is, if you're interested.) 

I Dub Thee...

Some of the world's most famous authors have written under a pseudonym, including JK Rowling, Stephen King, and Michael Crichton. Now, I don't plan on becoming a world-famous author, but I have been contemplating the benefits of publishing my work under another name.

All of my friends and I hold strong religious convictions, so we limit what we allow ourselves to enjoy as recreation. Of course, everyone's conscience is different. I really don't want to offend anyone. That's one of the major benefits of writing under an assumed name, I think. But am I worrying too much about that? My friends all understand that consciences vary. Besides that, while my book does have some less than pleasant things happen in it, I don't think it's particularly graphic. But that's just me. Hmm..

Another benefit of a pseudonym is the freedom to pick my own name. Haha. The possibilities are endless. I'm tempted to pick something really outrageous.

I found a fun pseudonym generator online (here is the link if you want to play with it). What do you think of the name Fey Jarret? Norby Gustafson? Chastity Von Hoffman? Then again, I am a writer. I should be able to come up with my own pen name, right?

Would you believe that wikihow has a guide on how to come up with a pseudonym? Apparently, for my genre, I should use initials. How does J.E. Nelson sound? Boring, I know. How about E.J. Nell? Too funny. How about H.L. Nelson? Happy because my first name is Joy, and Lizzy because my middle name is Elizabeth.

Or should I keep my own name? I mean, I've already told basically everyone I know that I plan on self-publishing my novel. Most of my friends aren't avid readers, anyway, so I should be too frantic about the effect the content might have. Plus, I rather like my name.

I have to decide soon. I have two and half more chapters to edit. Then I have my final read-through to weed out as many little typos as possible. And then...drumroll please...I am going to publish!