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.)