Hello, writer!

It's hard to believe another month has come and gone! We're getting close to rounding out the year—can you believe it's almost December?

I'm excited to welcome another author to the newsletter this month! Meet Tracie Kendziora, coach, editor, and author of Really Dumb Poems (affiliate link*).

Tracie Kendziora is a book coach and editor. She works with established and first-time authors and specializes in compelling, voice-driven manuscripts with a sense of humor.

She has a background in publishing, marketing, and public relations and has ghostwritten for Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Forbes. She self-published her first book in 2022 and is working on her first novel. When she’s not reading her clients’ books, she’s reading other books—mostly in the mystery and thriller genres.

You can learn more about Tracie at her website!

I want to start with Really Dumb Poems, which is a delight. How did you decide to write it?

I'm one of those people who was always like, “I'm going to write a book.” I had gotten to this point in my life where I hadn't done it yet, and I needed that self-validation, that proof that, like, you can write a book and publish it. Instead of being like, “I'm gonna write my novel,” and jumping into this big project when I hadn't successfully executed a large creative project, I said, “What is something small and easy that I can do to prove to myself that I can gather some momentum and spark my creative process again?”

That was the thinking behind the concept. I used to write poems when I was a kid, silly stuff, but just in my head. A lot of the time, I find myself doing very much what that book is—writing little rhymes. I would jot them down, and they come to me so organically and without much effort.

I wanted to do something that was creative but didn't drain me. That was where the idea came from. Something simple, something creative, but something doable. That's how it all came to be.

How long did it take you to write and publish the book?

You know, it didn't take that long. Once I decided to do it, it probably took six months. I waffled pretty hard on the introduction. I rewrote that many times and got stuck there a little bit, but the poems themselves came together very quickly. I self-published it, so I did get kind of hung up on some of that back-end stuff that took a little bit longer than I thought it would.

It was important to me that it was something that I could do relatively quickly. If I made it a big thing, I would draw it out and draw it out and it would never get done. I wanted it to be something was like: here's what I'm doing, and I'm going to do it, and it's done.

What are you working on now?

You probably experience this yourself! I work with other authors, so I don't dedicate as much time to my own creative work as I could or should or would like. I did take a little bit of a break, although I was writing down ideas constantly. It was probably six months that I was busy working with clients and supporting their writing.

But then, one day, I had an idea, and it took hold. I started writing down notes, and I kept coming back to it and coming back to it. That's what I'm working on now. It's a novel this time. Having that smaller project under my belt gave me proof that I can do this, I am ready, I am capable. Using a small project to springboard into something bigger makes it feel doable because I have the evidence.

What is similar about working on the novel compared to the poems, and what's different?

It’s definitely a lot more intentional with the longer project. With the novel, I have to give thought to the characters and the plot and the structure. With the poems, it was more like, “Here's a bunch of things that I can throw together.” It certainly didn't feel like that, but it was. It wasn't as thought out as the novel needs to be. So there isn’t as much spontaneity, but I'm not generally sitting down going, “I'm just going to write something!” I try to have an idea in mind of what I want to accomplish that day. With the poems, I could sit down and jot one on my phone. I didn't have to sit in front of my computer to write four lines, but it's difficult to do that with a novel. I know some people do, but I need to carve out more dedicated time to work on it. Having more of a schedule and discipline around this project is a big difference.

Do you write every day? Do you have scheduled writing time? What's your practice?

My practice is always evolving. It's challenging because so much of my time goes to working with other authors that I feel like I need to have the energy and inspiration in the moment to write. I have the overall idea and inspiration, but it doesn't always translate to a day-to-day writing practice, unfortunately.

I've done a couple of writing challenges where we write for 30 days or two weeks. Those helped me make a ton of progress. Whether it was the structure of it or the accountability, those sorts of things have helped me get my butt in the chair and get some writing done.

You edit and coach. Does your work influence your writing and vice versa?

That is a good question. I learn along the way on behalf of my clients. If they're working on a certain type of project, I'm like, “Oh, let me research this or find out more about this.” I take that as learning for myself that I can apply to my own projects. One of the biggest things is that I see them doing it; they're writing their books. They're engaging in this creative practice. It’s inspirational to me that other people are doing it. You can do it too. There’s a community aspect in that inspirational bubble around me with my clients.

What writing strategies have been helpful for you?

Two things come to mind. One of the things I did differently with this project, which I believe is helping me be more successful than I have been in the past, is that instead of just going, “Okay, here's this idea, I'm gonna write about it,” I slowed down. I am very much a pantser by nature. It’s hard for me to outline or do character sketches, but I really, really like this idea.

I promised myself I was going to slow down and be more intentional about it. I was jotting down my plot points and some character sketches and narrative arcs and all those things. That has actually been very helpful to me because it's shown me there is a story here. In my head, I was like, “Okay, great idea. Is it translating to the page?” When I structured it and plotted it out, I could see what I had in my head makes sense. Taking the time, even if I didn't do it fully, to get the idea out of my head onto the page helped, keep me going.

The other thing is I'm not putting pressure on myself. I have a lot of perfectionist tendencies, and I can get obsessive about things. I would love to write 1000 words a day, but that's very hard for me. I've given myself permission to understand that isn't how I work. I write in smaller bursts. I’m giving myself the flexibility to write when I want to write, when I have time, when I have the energy, and not comparing myself to somebody else writing 1000 words a day.

Isn't it so silly that I tell my clients these things all day long? But when it comes to yourself, it's so much harder to take a step back and give yourself that perspective.

Is there anything that you've tried that hasn't worked?

Letting go of the idea of a strict word count has been helpful for me in recognizing that that's not practical for me or not the best way for me to work. I don't want to say I let go of it completely because I did some of the structuring and plotting, but I didn't get stuck there. I can easily say, “I’m going try this version,” because there's so many different ways you can go about these things. I didn't feel compelled to make it perfect. I let go of trying to find the perfect way to do it.

Where are you in the writing process for your novel?

I have about 31,000 words, which I feel very happy about. I'm in the writing phase, trusting that it'll all come together. Even though I have 31,000 words, I'm very much in this writing scenes sort of place, which I'm okay with because I'm trusting that the story is there. Knowing that it's the first draft, of course, I want to get to a certain word count and then go back and start editing.

What is your typical approach to revising a book?

Typically, I will do one read-through to get an overall picture of what's going on. Is there any major “flaw” that is jumping out at me immediately? I try really hard to resist the urge to edit in that moment because I want to experience it as the reader and not as the writer, which is difficult because I know that I have to go in and revise it. I’m trying to look at it from a different perspective. Then, I'll start going through from the beginning and making notes on things I don’t like, things I need to change.

I haven't done all of my research yet, which I'm I'm okay with. I have a lot of those things to fill in, and I'm not sure at what point I want to. I know that I can get stuck finding the perfect structure or approach. I’m allowing myself to leave those things blank. Beefing up some of the research will come later. I do a first pass to get the big ideas, make sure everything is there, and then use that as a starting point to make smaller edits.

You have self-published one book. What's your hope for publishing this novel?

I see myself sending it out, but I'm not 100% married to that idea yet. It would be cool to have this traditionally published. I got early feedback from some admitted fans who were like, “Oh, I can see this in the bookstore.” I have that in the back of my head. That would be cool!

In reality, I'm not sure if my mental health will stand the test of going out on submission and the rejection and the waiting. I think it would be fantastic, but I think it'll be a decision when I have the manuscript finished. “How good do I feel about this?” Not that I want to self-publish something that's a piece of crap, but how strongly do I feel that there is a really big audience for this that a publisher would be interested in? It's going to be a gut-check game-time decision.

This is maybe slightly off-topic, but I don't see self-publishing as taboo. I know there is still a taboo around it, but I don't see it that way. You still wrote a book, and I generally don't think most people care. The author cares, but the reader doesn't necessarily care who published the book. What matters at the end of the day is if the book is good. We need to allow ourselves to feel into which option is best, knowing that there is a good path for you. It'll feel good, and one isn't necessarily better than the other.

What advice would you give another writer?

Such a hard question! I would say just write. Give yourself permission to write. Know that it doesn't have to be a big thing. You don't have to publish it. It can just be for you, but if you feel called to write something, just write it.

What's the best book you've read recently?

I've been doing Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. One of the tasks was to read a book based on the title. I picked There’s No Way I’d Die First (affiliate link*). It’s a YA thriller, but it was a nice, light, entertaining read involving murder. I think I read it in a day!

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It was great to connect with Tracie about her poetry, her novel, and her approach to supporting her creativity!

You can also keep up with Tracie by subscribing to her newsletter!