I felt and hoped for a lot of the same things that the other debs have talked about this week when considering applying to be a Deb. I wanted community and kinship and a small group of people to whom I could turn when publishing got hard. And also, I wanted to commit to a practice.
I have always kind of hated blogging, to be honest, but I love writing, and I love writing nonfiction. I saw The Debutante Ball as a way to practice my craft. To be forced to, once a week, commit my fingers to the keyboard and write about this experience. And I am so glad that I’ve done it.
The first few weeks (months) were hard. I didn’t know what I wanted to say or how to say it. I’m so used to making stuff up, that to write about my experience seemed really foreign. But as I got into a rhythm, I found that I really enjoyed the practice of sitting down each week to write something that wasn’t fiction, wasn’t about characters I made up, by rather, about the work behind the writing. And I think that this practice made me a much better and more efficient writer.
I don’t know if I’ll keep blogging when all of this is over, but I’m already thinking of ways to expand my creativity beyond my novels. I’ll keep you posted about the next thing, whatever that may be. I’m so grateful to you, the readers, for following along with us, and to my fellow Debs, for having my back.
Are you a female or non-binary author with a release coming out between September 2018 and August 2019? Go ahead! Apply to join the Class of 2019 here!
