So the first thing I need to say here is that I am not published, not even represented, so anything that I say below is reflection only and not any sort of writing advice, per se. All right. Onward!
I have always been at least a bit of a writer (see post #10 for hazy memories of what I think was the first story I ever wrote), but Once Upon a Wrensong is the first manuscript I’ve ever brought to the full-on editing stage, with a realistic eye towards marketing it. It’s been what feels like a VERY long process, so I figured I’d sit down and reminisce over what it’s looked like so far, because why not?
So without further ado, Jamie’s Meandering Journey to the Present, as Best as Can Be Remembered:
- Vibes: 19XX-present. I love fairy tales and beautiful sunsets and romance and the feel of a sudden sweet breeze on your face, not all of which I’ve always been comfortable with. Sometimes your home culture clashes with your preferences, especially as you grow up.
- Scattered scenes: 19 June 2022. This is the creation date for the oldest working Wrensong document I can find. It started with four scenes: The Kiss, the moment where the Otherworld goes after Maggie to get to Calder for the first time, and two scenes that got axed before the draft was half done (one involved a greasy spoon diner and the other was Maggie packing to leave for a trip she never ended up taking).
- Building, building, building: 2022-2025. So much writing, while also working full-time, moving twice, and trying to live life. A scene or two here or there, and the establishment of the “junk box,” where things that had to get cut ended up. Some of them are hilariously off-topic. At least one is a snippet of a sequel that went off in a wildly different direction than what was eventually needed.
- Alpha read: 2024-2025. A long process involving a few chapters at a time with a close friend asking me all sorts of questions and poking holes in my plot. Hard, exhausting, so much fun. May you all find yourselves a friend who can edit with you like this.
- Threads launch: April 2025. I’d seen so many folks saying that an author needs an online presence. “Fine,” I thought peevishly, “I’ll start a Threads account!” Turns out that I was about to find a fun and very informative community in that corner of the Internet. (Nobody look at my poor, sad, neglected Instagram account.)
- First edits (and first art commissions): May 2025-ish-May 2026. Well, the goal was to eventually have people who don’t know me read the thing, so I’d better start somewhere: sensitivity reads, as Wrensong, despite being cozy, involves some heavier themes in the background. So, off to the sensitivity readers it went, and from there, to beta readers. As for the art, I should put all of it up on the website eventually, shouldn’t I? It was a bit of an addiction for several months there.
- Developmental edit: May 2026-present. The Big One. The deepest dive I’d taken since the first alpha edits. I’m still working on the feedback from this one; life and my primary career often require that I set it aside for weeks at a time. It feels amazing, though, to see the manuscript move closer and closer to the end goal of entering the query trenches.
Every author’s process/journey is different — this is more or less what mine has looked like for the past four years. I’m not sure what the next four look like, but maybe I’ll hit late 2030 and be able to give y’all a retrospective that includes a publishing deal. Who can say? Not me, but good luck on your journey, wherever in the process you may be!
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