Behind the Scenes: Evolution of My First Book Idea

When I was in high school, I loved creative writing. So much that I would write during most of my classes, even Math. Somehow I never got in trouble. But when it came time for college, the writing fell to the wayside to focus on school and starting a career. The love of writing never left me though and I kept those beginning ideas for years. I probably still have them in a box somewhere in the attic. After college I went to work for my parents company and all was well but something felt like it was missing.

The idea of writing again had been nagging at the back of my mind for months now, but no idea ever felt quite right. Then one day, I was visiting a friend in the city. We had movie night at her new place. Ironically we were watching the third movie of the Fifty Shades of Grey series.

You might think, this would be my epiphany moment, but it wasn't. That happened on the drive home. I was alone in the car, blasting the tunes when the song Heathens by Twenty-One Pilots came on. Something in their lyrics sparked inside of me. Only ten minutes into this car ride home and I was voice messaging my friends (that I had just been with), that I was going to write a book. She was baffled and said WTF after you left here ten minutes ago.

We laughed and I began writing. The ideas just flowed out of me. Originally, I had intended to have the book be similar to the lyrics of Heathens but very quickly, the characters proved to me that was not their story. My story morphed and changed as I wrote, turning into what has become Woven in Stormlight.

After many rewrites in those initial months, and plot changes, I eventually finished my very first rough, rough draft of Woven in Stormlight. At the time I was calling it Heathens due to where the idea sparked from.

As the drafts continued, I built on the character development, understanding their path in the story and their personalities. This goes way beyond just the main characters, ever tiny side character needs this same development or I realized it can break apart the entire chapter or more. Some characters proved to need bigger parts in the story than originally planned and others were content as side characters in the main characters quest.

You never can rush art and this first book of mine is a testament to that. I loved every aspect of writing it and as I begin to delve into the rough draft of book two, I wonder if I will make changes to book 1 before it is published.

I am excited to publish Woven in Stormlight this year.