Paperback Writer: Putting the Story in My Head on Paper

“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

It took me years to write, will you take a look?”

Listening to the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer,” I can’t help but find resemblance in my own journey as a writer. I’ve been keeping it under wraps until it was the best it could be, BUT I wrote a book! That’s right—I wrote a full-length novel for young adults titled, The Catalyst. It’s been a work in progress since 2018 when I took the leap and began fleshing out the story that had been living in my head, taking up too much room for way too long. It was a little scary at first. Saying out loud that you’re going to write a book seems rather daunting. The largest project I’d accomplished before this was a twenty-page research paper in college.

At a young age, I was frequently writing short fictional stories, and whenever we had a creative essay to write, mine was almost always the longest. For instance, in the fifth grade we were assigned to write about our bedroom. I wrote seven pages front and back, which at the time we had to rewrite after every round of edits. Then, in the ninth grade, my English teacher introduced us to The Outsiders. I couldn’t believe S.E. Hinton was only fifteen, my age at the time, when she wrote that book. I subconsciously tucked away that golden nugget of inspiration. My little brain had been preparing for a larger-than-life self-given writing assignment with a story building throughout the years. 

As I began writing my now novel, it developed a life of its own. The characters started to take shape, and I wanted to dive into their world day in and day out as I steadily added 1,000 words at a time. I was so entangled in the plot that I would have dreams of a sentence, description, or an idea that needed to be incorporated into the next chapter or the previous one. Stephenie Meyer once said in an interview how she would dream about the world she created, now known as Twilight. Vampires and werewolves invaded her sleep, begging her to release them into the world. I didn’t understand it until it started happening to me. The more I enveloped myself in it, the more I constantly had streams of thoughts flowing at all times, day and night. I would wake up at 3:00 am and text myself a sentence, with the occasional text going to my mother or husband by accident.

I took several online courses about book writing, with each one emphasizing the same point. You must make the time to write. It will not simply happen. You have to make a schedule and stick with it, one chapter, one bite at a time. So, that’s what I did. I made a schedule to write 1,000 words 3 to 5 days a week. The number of days varied depending on how busy my week was, but the minimum was always at least 3 days. At the time, I had a job that had so much downtime that I would have around 2 to 3 hours a day to get a solid chunk written. On the days when I actually had work to do, I got up at 5:00 am, lit a candle, and wrote in the shadows of the flickering light. Writing The Catalyst was almost ritualistic. I would listen to the same album over and over again during it. It reminded me of the vibe I was going for—like the movie version was already made in my head, and I was simply transcribing the ambiance I witnessed. I usually had some sort of coffee or latte I sipped on as I wrote, which helped me channel the protagonist. 

All in all, I wrote this book as a testament to my love story with my husband. When I found love, it was the most unexpected, insanely terrifying, beautiful, vulnerable, and powerful time of my life. I had never experienced feelings like this before and I needed to release them into a fictional story that hopefully others would find intriguing and one that would cultivate a strong belief in real love. With a little bit of magic, self-discovery, and a rollercoaster of emotions that surround love, I hope I’ve created something that readers can connect to and see themselves reflected in. I think of my little self back in my elementary school days writing by hand, creating short stories in her head, dreaming as a young girl. I think she’d be so excited to meet me, as a published author.

“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

It took me years to write, will you take a look?”