When writing your book just know that your book WILL change.
Perhaps not a ton, perhaps only a little, or perhaps it will be a completely different book than the one you intended on writing in the first place, but one way or another, your book will evolve over time.
This isn’t a bad thing though. As you write, your ideas will grow and form. You might realize that what sounded like a great idea before doesn’t really work well in application. You may be hit with a sudden inspiration to go a different direction.
My advice?
But in all seriousness, go for it! If you feel your book changing, you need to allow it. If you stick too tightly to your original plan, your writing will come out forced and it will sound that way to your readers. Take the new path and see where the new ideas lead you. If you hate them you can always go back and try again.
In other words, planning and outlining your book is important. But it is also just as important to allow your book to change and evolve as you write.
As you all know, I recently received my feedback from the publishers and they encouraged me to change and improve some chapters in my book. Through their suggestions, I have come up with new solutions and actually changed the entire chapter order of my book! And to be honest, it’s better for it!
Happy Writing Everyone!
***Enjoyed today’s tip? Check out my main page for more under the tab “Writing Tips”! Have any questions about today’s tip or writing in general? Leave your comments below!
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KaylaAnn 
My favourite topic. 😀 I swear, texts are more like living things than we care to admit, and if we try too hard to squeeze them in the shape we want, we might just end up killing them, like a canary that’s crushed to death.
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Wow, that is a great metaphor Alice and you are SO right! If we try to rush to finish something and we don’t give it time to breathe, then ultimately we are doing our own work a disservice.
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Giving it time to breathe, I definitely feel like I’m suffocating myself with trying to rush through the process. I do need a break to let it breathe and to give my mind a rest. I can’t write under tight pressure or the ideas will slip through my fingers.
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Yeah. Rushing’s something else. I don’t blame people that fall for it – I myself sent my first two manuscripts out to publishers too soon because I couldn’t bring myself to wait. Can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing my impatience is partly to blame for my failures there.
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Perfectly penned. Wow this just blew my mind.
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this is so true and scary! my story is nothing like i had written at first… first my main character was this assassin/mercenary and now she’s a priestess.
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Haha, that is QUITE the turn around in life decisions! 🙂 But this is such a great example of the evolution that must take place in a book for it to be successful.
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i’m a great believer in the organic method of creative writing, rather than planning. this method does bring up a lot of fear and angst, but produces something fresh and new eventually, as long as you keep at it each day. ‘bum on chair’ as i like to tell people. i agree with you. have to let the work change as it grows.
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“Bumming it on the chair” <- I dig it!
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Thanks Kayla for these amazing tips. I’m working on a book and short story. I’m new to this, but I’m starting to see how just writing and letting things evolve helps. You’re right when it is forced, I find that I have to force myself to focus and write. Although, I set mini goals a week to etch our time to write without being disturbed. But I’m really enjoying the process because I find myself lost in the characters as they develop. I swear I feel like I’m in the story myself. ☺️ I can’t wait to see how it comes out in the end.
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Hey there, I am SO glad that these tips are helping! What types of stories are you working on? Like genre?
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Fictional story, it was going to be about wolves, vampires, but then I decided to change it. it’s clique now a days. So I’m letting the story develop. Still working on it.
And the short story is for a competition I came across online. But I think it may mash together with the fictional story. I have two that I developed. I like both but I’m too focus on the amount of words, rather than just giving into the writing and just let it flow.
I was also working on a book of poetry, but had to put it on pause. I’m really getting into poetry and short stories, a lot.
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Sounds like fun anyway! I totally wrote a whole story on vampires and werewolves in high school during my Twilight phase! Nothing worth publishing but it was so much fun writing and definitely helped me develop my skills.
Poetry and short stories can be fun and just as challenging as full length novels especially when we take the time to revise and revise and revise…
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Wow, excellent point, KaylaAnn! I think of writing a book like life – enjoy the journey along the way.
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Yes! Exactly! We shouldn’t be so focused on the end product that we lose focus on what is being produced as we produce it
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These tips are very inspirational. Thank you for sharing them with us!
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Thank you Rose!
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Your book can change just by the main character saying or doing one thing. I like your advice to just do it. Let the story evolve. You can always rewrite, but the initial idea may be the one to make the WIP much better.
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Exactly! Thanks for commenting!
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I really did need to read this. I’m hoping that whatever direction my story takes me will lead me to something at least decent before the end of November.
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Are you doing NaNo? It can be an encouraging goal but don’t get frustrated if you don’t finish! December is a great time to write as well 🙂
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Couldn’t agree more! I’ve been working on my novel for a few years now, since I was in high school, and it has changed more than I ever could have imagined! Looking back, it feels like the story sort of matured and grew up with me – the different iterations of it reflect where I was in my life when I made those changes to the story. Letting your story evolve is like raising a child – if you hold on too tightly to this inital idea of who you want your baby to be, you’ll never get to see who they’re truly meant to become.
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Hello there! I’m not sure I’ve seen you around my blog before so welcome!
I know exactly what you mean, I have a book that I started in middle school that I have redone five time and each time it is far better than the last! I love your metaphor of a child.
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