My Writing Journey // How I Got Started

I just finished writing the first draft of my debut poetry novel, called Reality Check! While drafting, I just noticed that I really haven’t discussed my writing journey with you guys. It’s been a kind of wild journey so far, but it’s mine. Here’s how I went from writing in my childhood bedroom to a few friendly faces on the internet.

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The full, unedited version of this post is available on my Patreon if you want to see that too. Visit https://www.patreon.com/poetrybooksya for more exclusive, creative writing and poetry content!

Also visit my introductory post on Patreon here.

In case you missed it, here are some posts I wrote in the past week:

7 Favorite Childhood Books Found at the Library

Q&A with Francesca Burke: ‘The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes’

My Therapy Journey // What I learned from my first three months of counseling

I’ve been writing short stories ever since I was a child, ever since I could crawl. I remember acing spelling tests and blowing my teachers away with my tales in elementary school English classes. I was always a good student growing up, and always had a book in my hand. I’d read everything from Harry Potter, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Baby-Sitters Club, Divergent, and so many others. I was always in awe of the authors around me and wondered when it’d be my turn to create something.

There was also a part of me that was afraid to call myself a writer. I’d thought had to be on the New York Times bestseller list, adored by millions of people. But as I’m phasing out of my 20s, I realize there’s more than one way to be a writer. The only prominent way to become a writer is to be a reader.

Middle and high school was also the time where I wrote a lot of Twilight fanfiction! My first ever fanfic, The Spotlight is On!, still gets shared and messaged about to this day! The sequel, Spotlight: the Sequel, gets even more hits. I guess I was using my love for my favorite book series.

Once I got to college, I majored in Mass Communications because I still had the writing journey in the forefront of my mind. But after my freshman year, I had to transfer from a big-shot private university to a smaller, more affordable community college. My dreams and desires of being a writer fell off. I had decided to switch my major to Liberal Arts – Education instead. I’d mostly done it to please my father, who encouraged teaching as a profession. I still felt like I was missing something in my life. I was missing that hole that writing had once filled in high school. After I graduated from community college in 2014, I took a gap year to get some work/life experience. I still wrote fanfiction here and there, but not as much since I was working.

2014 was also the year I started blogging! This website was once on the Google-based platform called Blogger by another name, Poems and Book Reviews by a Young Artist. I know, way too long of a name! But at the time, I didn’t care; I was 21 years old, and had never thought anyone important would know about this blog. I’d thought I’d always be writing to the 4 pink walls of my bedroom, and occasional family members. I was heading back to college full-time and needed an outlet from my busy schedule.

I’d also signed up to become a blog tour host with Xpresso Book Tours, YA Bound Book Tours, and Inkslinger PR. It was the first time I felt important as a book blogger. I’d made some awesome blogger friends, and met some cool indie authors to do interviews with. I didn’t know it at the time, but I thought it was important for someone like me — a Black young female blogger — to showcase my skills. I haven’t done a blog tour post in a minute, but I still look back at the beginning stages of my blogging journey with pride.

After I’d graduated (again) from college with my Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Journalism, that was where real life set in. I still wanted to work professionally in publishing and write my own works someday. But I was having a hard time finding the right connections and mentors to get started. In 2018, I changed my blog name to PoetryBooksYA, a more condensed version of my old self. I gained and lost editorial assistant jobs, left volunteer positions at entertainment websites, all the while still working in retail! The real world was kicking my ass, and I didn’t know how to stop it. Often, I’d felt anxious and depressed over not living the life I’d thought I should have been. I’d often thought there was something wrong with me because I wasn’t living my best life in the writing/publishing world. And sometimes I still feel that way…

What had helped counteract those negative thoughts was the friends I made through blog-hopping (commenting on other book blogs), Discord, Youtube, and Twitter. They made me recognize that I wasn’t alone in my experiences, whether I needed to laugh or cry. Joining the Bookend Events gang with Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam as a seasonal host has been the best decision of my journey. They got me out of my shell to create better content and meet more people.

Joining the @Bookend_Events gang with @CuppaClo and @FictionallySam as a seasonal host has been the best decision of my journey. They got me out of my shell to create better content and meet more people. Share on X

I have so much writing experience on my belt. I thought it’d be productive of me to crossover into the opposite side of the publishing world, librarianship. I’ve only worked in one library, which only lasted three months due to the stupid pandemic and other personal issues. However, I learned so much about the library system and how it can help benefit different communities. I hope to continue to learn more as I navigate within this industry and gain more experiences.

Now, I’m currently writing my own original poetry book, outlining, drafting, and sending to editors. I have no idea where my next job will be, but you can bet it’ll still be in a library. I have desires to work in an academic library setting next. That means more time finding mentors and studying, less time writing. But I don’t think there will ever come a time where I’ll completely stop writing. No matter how busy I get, I’ll always find the time, even if it’s just a page a day. It’s something that will always stick with me.

I don't think there will ever come a time where I'll completely stop writing. No matter how busy I get, I'll always find the time, even if it's just a page a day. Share on X

Comment Below! What’s your writing journey been like?

Thanks for reading!