Written by Melissa Velasco, Accomplished Indie Writer
Melissa Velasco is an Indie author with a quick wit, edgy writing style, and bold willingness to take a flying leap into the unknown. She is the author of the Hollywood High Chronicles book series, a metaphysical thriller deep dive into the trials of a pack of metaphysically charged teen misfits growing up in gritty 1990's Hollywood.
As an indie writer, I’m asked a lot of questions. Every single prospective writer who approaches me asks one question in particular: “How did you do it? I’ve been working on my book for years.” They’ve all started their books, and then they get stuck.
Why do they come to me with this question?
It could be because I’m a quirky sparkler, easily approached at a party, generally ready for a candid conversation, and always willing to give it to you straight.
Or maybe it’s because I’m the author of the Hollywood High Chronicles book series. In two and a half years, I’ve published the first five books of the series. That’s considered quick in the writing business. Prospective writers are stunned to find out that I’ve actually written sixteen books in the series. My production rate offers proof that I’m doing something that just might get other indie writers on the right track. My method isn’t simple, but it’s succinct.
Buckle up, prospective writer, because I’m about to reveal a pathway. Here goes.
Write it all
Yup, you heard me. Write. The good, the bad, the unimaginable. Let it pour. Don’t get bunched up around method just yet. I view my first stage of novel writing as “the dump.” It’s no different from step one of shoveling out a room in your home where you’ve dumped everything you didn’t want to deal with for years. Finally resigned to resolving the mess, you bravely scoot into the room. You start digging. What are you confronted with an hour later? A bigger mess. This is the moment where people shut down. Don’t! The mess is the most important part of the early process. You must know what exists in the dreaded room of misshapen ideas. Don’t fear the dump!
"But, Melissa, my problem is that I can’t even start! The dumping of words is the problem."
Ah, yes. The perceived roadblock of writers
One, one of my sixteen books poured out in perfect order. The rest came out like a big tornado and landed in heaps of aftermath destruction. I had to sort through the rubble to glean a zygote of a product. It’s always a disaster, chapters out of order, ideas that are half-baked at best. Take book five, for instance. I had a middle with no clue where it was headed, and the beginning wasn’t even an idea yet. That’s all perfectly fine. You don’t have to start at the beginning. I often don’t. Sometimes all I have is a dramatic conclusion to a book without a title. "But! But how did the characters get to this bizarre end place? This doesn’t work." Sure, it does. Inspiration will offer brilliant ideas, but it’s asking a lot of inspiration to understand end-product methodology. Inspiration is a playful child. Let it romp, free from the shackles of expectation. Let the ideas come as they may. You can put the puzzle together down the road.
Lean in. I must whisper this secret.
No one will know the details of your mess. Your final product won’t even resemble what you dump out at this cursory stage. There’s so much process and editing ahead that you’re safe to dump out your mess.
(Forget the part about all the process and editing ahead. That sounds terrifying, but it won’t be when you get there. The thing about the process is that you can’t look ten steps ahead. You aren’t there yet, which is why it seems daunting. You’ll be ready for it when you get there. Right now, you’re ready for the dump.)
Let's tackle the misconception
"Accomplished writers have some mystical ability to craft a tale with publishable perfection the moment their fingers touch the keys, right?"
Wrong. Accomplished writers start in the same place a stuck writer does. The difference is that a published author keeps going. It’s not as hard as you think. You just don’t give up and walk away, dejectedly convinced that you’re hopeless. Writers are artists, and artists are supposed to frolic, think outside the box, and play. How authors got stuffed into some serious, grounded, and stuffy image is beyond me. I didn’t get stuffed into that box because I was an artist in the areas of dance, stage management, and choreography well before I flexed my author muscles. Thank goodness for that, because the “author stereotype” is so counter to my actuality that I would have been doomed in the land of never if I’d gotten stuck in that stuffy box. Authors are artists, and that opens an entire universe of fun possibilities. Toss the itchy turtleneck, ditch the gravity, and set yourself free to be the quirky misfit you are. I guarantee it’ll benefit your writing.
Back to the point
You aren’t stuck. The mountains of junk-thought ideas aren’t roadblocks; they’re playgrounds of creativity. You let all the ideas out, then grab your basket, skip into the mess, and hunt for all the good stuff like a kid on Easter. There’s no need to dread such a charming opportunity.
"What if all that’s in my ‘storage room of ideas’ is garbage?"
(I’m laughing. I love this follow-up question that I get from fearful writers who still can’t accept that to be a writer, you must write.)
My answer? It will be a garbage dump. But some of my very best work was initially crafted from absolute trash writing. I’ve written first-attempt chapters so bad that they taught me what no amount of fantastic writing could. I’m talking about chapters so terrible that I stared at my computer screen, mouth gaping. "What in the world is that?" Yup, bad stuff.
Unpublishable. Unthinkable. Untalented. Thoroughly unusable.
Luckily, no one saw the terrible chapters. The bad chapters didn’t destroy me, and they didn’t exist for long. When the unthinkable dribble I create is nothing but garbage, I voyage in the opposite direction. What’s the opposite of this craptacular mess I made? A new pathway opens, and the journey continues.
Don’t stop, can’t stop, won’t stop. That’s your new motto. Writers must write. I wholeheartedly assure you that that’s where you start. Get to it!
Can you hear it? My evil laughter? (There’s danger ahead.)
You’re embarking on an adventure fraught with a kind of peril far more daunting than the insecurity of putting messy words on a disorganized page. A great adventure must have peril, though, right? Heroes learn through adversity. We grow by facing demons, armed with nothing but grit.
"What are you talking about?" the prospective writer asks dubiously.
Fear of the purge.
Ah, the dark stuff. Once you’ve gleaned your gems from the piles of rubble, you must face those glistening prizes.
This topic deserves an entire article. Stay tuned for the next step of the journey: Tackling an Author’s Shadow Work. Visit here.
Melissa Velasco, Accomplished Indie Writer
With a quick wit, often edgy mouth, and loud laugh, Melissa exuberantly embraces life. Melissa Velasco is a true explorer of the arts. With a well-rounded background as a choreographer, professor, dance teacher, stage manager, and author, she thrives in creation. At her core, she believes that the arts save lives and provide a route for passion and connection. With five books currently published from her Hollywood High Chronicles metaphysical thriller books series, Melissa Velasco is an accomplished Indie writer.
