How to Write a Novel (In Under Ten Years!)

Pro Tips on Following Your Dreams and Kicking Excuses to the Curb

May 01, 2024

Have you ever had a dream so wild and you think, I wish I could do that, BUT…*insert excuses*?

If you hummed a sassy “mmhmm,” I have a story to inspire your pants off. (Because who really needs to be restricted by pants?)

I’m spring cleaning to get ready to move, and I found an old journal from 2014—a decade ago. Allow me to quote me:

“I want to write a novel, but first, I need to do some therapeutic journaling. I am a mess. I always have been. Maybe that will make me a good writer. I will never know unless I actually write. Having the courage to start writing is a new development. I am not sure how long I have feared it or why. I think I have decided I want to be a writer. Having the freedom to explore and create and the possibility that I could touch someone’s life in a way that makes them feel—that is my dream. My words have always come across clearer on paper than they do coming out of my big mouth. I think my pen is braver than I am. I think I am fearful that I will be an awful writer and that my dream will be crushed. I keep saying, “I think.” It is because I am not sure.” — Harmony Prom, circa 2014.

Well, guess what, rodent pals? I wrote a whole damned book! YEAH. It only took me ten years. *Insert face-melting emoji.*

If you want to do something, just do it. Stop thinking about it, stop making excuses, and never use therapeutic journaling as one if you want to maintain any shred of street cred. Succumbing to fear is a lethal injection to your dreams.

My pen is braver than I am, and I am so freaking glad that I decided to become a writer and then finally got my hot mess self together to do it. I have grown so much as a human, a creative, and a writer since that scrawling.

It took me six years from that entry to start writing my book and four more to finish what I’m calling my first complete draft. In reality, I’ve been excavating the story and honing my craft for four years to make readers feel some way when they read my book.

Dreams take clarity, bravery, and messy, prolonged action to come to fruition.

Nobody writes a book overnight (and if you do, you’re a freak—but also tell me how), gets famous, starts a company, or changes the world. Anything worthwhile takes time to create. So get started today. And if you want to tickle your future self, write down your intentions so you can look back and be proud of yourself for chasing your dreams.

BUT HARMONY, WHAT DID YOU WRITE?

Thank you so much for asking!

In the Heart of Delphi (working title) is a YA fantasy novel about a sheltered young woman living with her troubled adoptive mother in a dystopian America—where a solar flare knocked out the internet and cursed some humans with clairvoyance—who sets out on an errand to save the family gemstone mine but ends up on a wild adventure into an unseen realm where she discovers who she really is, the remarkable power she holds, and how her choices alone will alter the fate of humankind, soulkind, and the gods themselves.

I’m headed into edits for this book and I’m equal parts excited and terrified. But my pen is brave, and your girl is getting published. *Me: Putting out the vibes.*

Since you cannot read my book yet, allow me to recommend some word yummies that I’m reading now:

The Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole—I’m listening to book two, Glow of the Everflame, on Audible, and I cannot get enough. You'll love this one if you like slow-burn fantasy romance, magic, warring societies, mysterious princes, or enemies to lovers!

Jade City by Fonda Lee—I am 75% through reading this on Kindle Unlimited. This is a heavier read because Fonda Lee drops the weight of the clan on your shoulders and presses the tip of a blade to your throat the entire time. If you like fantastical mafia/clan rivalries, complicated family dynamics, lineage-linked magic, Asian-inspired stories, and epic battle scenes, you’ll love Jade City. This is a trilogy that I hear only gets better, so I’m excited to find out what happens.