frequently asked questions about my debut novel + writing process

My philosophies while drafting and editing, how writing my debut novel's changed my reading, tips & tricks, and more.

From the Words Like Silver archive, written late last year—

Every so often, I ask my Instagram audience to submit questions about my book, Mountain Sounds, largely to spare myself the individual DMs. (I’m friendly if you message me—promise!)

At this point, I’ve been a book reviewer for close to 14 years and actively writing books for about ten (with Mountain Sounds comprising close to 8 years of work), so I like to think I have a decent amount of strange, niche knowledge about writing, publishing, and both genre and literary fiction. For a broad FAQ, I have a catch-all for the random questions I get too.

Pursuing traditional publishing is esoteric and slow. The industry is unlike just about any other in terms of its excruciating pace and near-impossible prediction. Tragically for me, I’ve loved it and thrived within it since age 13, so will probably always be involved.

Over the course of me being public about my book (as I did keep it secret for quite a long time), I’ve answered some questions in my posts on getting a literary agent, departing from said agency and securing new representation, my multiple (Sisyphean) revisions in preparation for going out “on submission” to major publishers, and more.

Within my updates newsletter, I’ve talked about life mimicking art, craft strategies, and even the financial structures I have in place to keep me in line while “paying myself in time” to write.

Some of the most recent questions:

What’s most difficult to write—the first or last line?

Absolutely the first for me. The last line is, in my opinion, what the book is truly saying, which I know when I sit down to write.

For the first line, you really have to consider where to start the story (crucial), what impression you want to evoke, and all sorts of other factors relating to hook/setup/initial aesthetic that may be way more complicated. I’ve changed where the book begins and what scene I use as the first one, but I rarely change the ending image.

My current first line:

AJ and I used to sneak down to the docks on nights we weren’t on watch.

For a great last line, a book rec: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund captures this concept perfectly.

How do you plot?

My process is always changing, but I start with feel and vibe because that’s what we remember most. My favorite books feel singular and powerful for that reason—usually with a strong sense of place too. The art director in me loves building out an aesthetic to start.

Usually, I start with a playlist and mood board and go broad for a while, collecting inspiration and letting a story “simmer” for a really long time. I’ll trim that down as I go, then layer over plot structures and lines. I always have a running phone note.

Most of my plotting gets done (or at least, becomes clear) during revision. My preferred method of problem solving involves taping butcher paper to a wall, conspiracy theorist-style, and going ham with post its, color coding, and more. So I build from the inside out in a lot of ways.

Another book rec: Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book? by Ally Carter has some helpful suggestions.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Pantser on first drafts, plotter on the later. Revision is where I get to plot, layers, patterns, motifs, etc,.

How many main and side characters does MOUNTAIN SOUNDS have?

Mountain Sounds has a huge cast, admittedly! It’s a summer camp, so I struggled in balancing this. One aspect of book writing that I’ve deeply appreciated is the realization of how frequently and naturally others you know cross your mind. I am constantly mentally referencing histories, acquaintances, and friend. You know that quote that’s like “I’m made up of all the people I’ve ever loved”? Narratively, we are (or I am, at least) constantly thinking of and inspired by other people.

Long story short, specific names and references are always peppering my inner monologue, so I realized that’s a hard attribute to give to a character. Tatum, my protagonist, is partly defined by her deep care for the girls she looks after at summer camp. She remembers names; she sees and gives loves to the kiddos who might otherwise feel lonely or forgotten.

In edits, I had to consciously remove a lot of the names because otherwise, the reader would get bogged down, but it almost felt opposite to her characterization to see others more anonymously. Part of her characterization includes noticing.

Anyway: scale of cast is tough. I settled for one main narrator, a love interest, 3-4 antagonists/semi-antagonists (depending on your POV), a group of about 5 core friends, a mentor figure, and a few assorted references. Plus her cabin of kids, but I could only really call out 2-3 kids within that so as not to overwhelm readers. (Realistically, she would love and include them all equally.)

Do you have any other book ideas?

Several! I’ll write my first draft of the most clear one, SUN GUILT, likely throughout January and February¹. I’ll try to aim for a quick “zero draft” to get the first iteration down on paper just because I’m nervous about how long Mountain Sounds took me and want to make sure I snap into expediency with my next. Wish me luck.

I’d also love to write a sequel/companion to Mountain Sounds if we sell it as a two-book deal, so have a rough outline cooking. (I’ll explain that process more later.) And then I have maybe 1-2 other strong ideas in simmer mode.

What percent commission does your agent take?

Industry standard is 15% on deals within your country (U.S. rights for me) and 20% on foreign rights because they generally work with other agents on those too. Film and TV rights are similar—20%. I was also careful in checking my contract that any mention of rep’d writing, etc,. didn’t affect my journalism commissions. They shouldn’t ever, but I’m a fiend about clarity in contracts so wanted to ensure there were no potential misinterpretations (and did genuinely consider going to law school for a long time.)

Do you have any advice for your 18-year-old self?

What I said on Instagram, paraphrased:

“Oh gosh, I’d say be less naive, but that’s actually something I like about myself. I guess I’d say not everyone will understand you and you don’t have to spend energy correcting them. I feel like I spent a lot of time trying to correct if someone got me ‘wrong,’ regardless of whether or not their impression was negative or positive.’ Also, you are not inherently too serious, and anyone who says so is maybe just not giving you the room to display other aspects of your personality. And maybe take easier college classes.”

Recently, I’d add that I’ve been mulling over the idea that hypocrisy might occur in the gap between awareness and change, and might signal that same leap for others, so I’d consider how judgmental we (I) can be about it if someone’s trying their best. Similarly, treat everyone the exact same, and like they have the best intentions. I do, at my core, believe that people become how you treat them, and may rise to the level of your expectations if you give them unconditional support instead of judgment.

What’s the hardest part to edit?

I have a whole spiel about this and will go into detail when I’m not sleepy, but shifting a character to belief—without the structure of say, a magical school or some intense conflict or breakthrough—is incredibly difficult to do subtly, in the same way that it’s incredibly hard to shift a belief in reality without some obvious catalyst.

Writing gets philosophical in that way. How do people change their minds?

A book that does this well that I need to review: Each Night Is Illuminated by Jodi Lynn Anderson.

How can I improve my writing?

Many, many methods here, but some main, quick points:

• Read widely, both in your genre and non, old and new, etc,. Consider what endures, both to you and to others. Note through-threads of interest, and your brain will start unconsciously picking up on and absorbing patterns and trends and structures of language that other craft books will try and fail to teach you as effectively. I am always shocked by writers who don’t read, because that feels crucial to it.

• I swear by poetry’s value in improving your prose on a word-by-word and line level. The limits make it!

• Put your work in a position to be critiqued and rejected. (Hard but necessary.)

• Writing’s a muscle you can build. (More about this to come later.)

• In my opinion, writing is primarily a form of thought organization. If you get stuck, you just need to figure out what format best benefits your clarity going forward. A tip I give to a lot of students looking to write essays is that they’re articulating their ideas verbally so well to me when explaining themselves. So if they get stuck on the words-on-paper part, switch it up. Pull out a voice recorder and dictate, listen back, then try to write word-for-word what you said out loud maybe. Basically, don’t be afraid of talking to yourself or arranging your plot visually via mood images, or whatever gets you to move. Similarly, clarity in thought organization is a skill you can build over time.

• Define and chase your taste. Know the gaps in it! (Speaking of, look up Ira Glass’s thoughts on “The Gap” if you get discouraged.)

How do you balance your hobbies?

Lots of thoughts on this, but I’d say many of my hobbies are reactionary to each other. If I’ve been too verbal (reading/writing), I’ll switch to something visual (art, etc,.) If I’ve been too interior (words/art), I’ll go do something physical (exercise, dance.) If I’ve been too visible (blog, etc,.), I’ll go do something in which I can disappear and be unavailable (hike, surf, etc,.) They overlap in terms of awe and nature and creativity and flow and all that jazz, so I see each as fundamentally being very similar, but each interest scratches a different itch so I can layer them appropriately.

Similarly, there’s a season for everything so trust your interest when it ebbs and flows. I’m such a long game person that I know if I put down, say, an instrument in one year in favor of deepening one skill that I’ll likely pick it up again when no longer as focused on the other. That doesn’t mean to be flighty or mercurial with trying and abandoning plenty, but rather to trust your rhythms and rotations.

On that note, I’ve realized (and been very careful about) never to say “I don’t have the time” for something. Instead, I like to say “I don’t prioritize” it. Ex: I would love to cook more but never prioritize it enough, but I do have the time. Everyone does, but everyone’s triaging differently based on their curiosities and schedules.

How did you come up with your title?

MOUNTAIN SOUNDS was nicknamed BLACK BEAR for a long time, based on an Andrew Belle song I’ll link to at some point also. (By the way, in book world, you tend to all-caps manuscripts and format Published Books like this, which is why I reference MOUNTAIN SOUNDS the way I do.)²

Eventually, the title didn’t feel right. I hunted through my playlist and through motifs and plenty else and eventually settled on MOUNTAIN SOUNDS, loosely inspired by some other songs. It felt right.

A publisher could decide to change this based on what’s marketable or most appealing. I won’t have much control, and wouldn’t really care because their calculation means that it would likely be seen, read, and loved by more people.

How many books have you written?

I wrote one in high school that should never, ever see the light of day. MOUNTAIN SOUNDS was my second, but I’ve rewritten it from scratch 4-5 times so I think I should get to count it for every revision (haha.)³

Has being an author changed how you read?

Absolutely, in the same way that being a reviewer has! Reading is such an active process, especially when you’re making connections between patterns and trends in current works (i.e. one book feels like another), structures, and more. I’m not sure I can ever meaningfully “separate out” reading for work versus pleasure—and in many ways, I work on what I do because it brings me pleasure—but I’m better about switching into different modes based on whether I’m essentially studying or having fun.

How many times have you read your book?

Probably at least once a month in each since 2020, with a few distinctive breaks for the hopes of “fresh eyes.” Many, many times. (Similarly, I think I should be able to count MOUNTAIN SOUNDS on my Read in 2024 and previous lists.)

How do you find time to write?

Similarly, this is an answer deserving of a full post because I get asked this all the time and have a lot of nuanced thoughts on the subject. The unsexy, possibly defensive answer to this is that I sacrifice and have sacrificed a lot for my pursuit. Everything from what I do for work to where I live to how I structure my life revolves around my writing and my drive for excellence within it. But in short, some actionable strategies if you’re struggling:

• It’ll be a lot of 5 A.M.s and late nights and writing in the margins.

• You might need to get a “pay the bills” job to “pay yourself in time [to write.]” My favorite schedule for writing was actually temporarily part-time on certain days of the week, so I could pay my rent and bills but take a creative risk on Mondays and Fridays. Of course, I absolutely chopped my overhead costs before then and I definitely lost a lot financially in terms of opportunity cost there, so it’s a privileged idea and one I weighed very seriously.

• Know your rhythms and what burns you out. Example: In the fall, I found myself writing a lot on Sundays because it being a non-work day made me feel ‘uninterrupted’ in a way that helped me access a deep work mode more easily. But I also started feeling like I never got a restful weekend so had to rearrange some.

• Trust the long game. Write scraps and sentences. My drafts partly have taken me so long because I’m exhausted from the pursuit of excellence in other domains too, like journalism and being a real person. I put being a writer before being a person for a long time, and 2024 has been more balanced (in some ways.)

• You will have to say no to plans and opportunities you want to say yes to, and you will resent it. It’s part of the process (sorry) and part of why I feel so strongly about saying no, I wrote a book actually when people say Grace “is writing a book.” I’ve worked too hard and given up too much for that to be minimized. There is a significant cost and you have to want it badly, and I think a lot of people give up too early and easily.

• Sort of a repeat of above, but roll with your rhythms. Recognize when the words are flowing and do everything possible to keep that momentum, even if you have to let everything go around that day or window. The house will get messy. Burn that midnight oil. All the clichés. Look up at the end of your fugue state in a satisfied, dizzy haze. Similarly, know when they’re not flowing, and try to interrupt yourself; get something else done so you can take advantage of the magic state when it arrives. Go for a walk, shower, exercise, whatever fulfills you elsewhere. Get enough sleep if you can.

Do you write chronologically or out of order?

I write out of order for the most part because snippets and scenes will come to me before an outline does. When plotting and adjusting later, I definitely do multiple, conscious revision passes reading my book chronologically for experience because I think flow and polish are just as important to quality as plot, characterization, prose, etc,. and you also want to make sure parallels hit the way you want.

Do you think every book should have a twist?

Not in the traditional sense, but I think any book should surprise you in some way, whether that’s with the depth of your connection to it, a thought crystallized for you in that “whoah, I didn’t know you could put that feeling into words and I suddenly feel understood or resonant” way, a favorite detail, etc,. Surprise can be gentle.

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Update: Since writing this in 2024, I have a lot more thoughts on each of these answers, but this is a great time capsule overview and I stand by it. Since then, I’ve written more about my craft (and will transfer more to Substack), but you can dive deeper into various aspects of my process with the following!

An Extensive Portrait of Eight Book Drafts

Scraps of Zero Draft Thoughts

Software Recs for Drafting a Book

Writing a Novel from Scratch: Layers, Craft Books, Tips, etc,.

The Considerations of Writing a Zero Draft

Building Out a Book’s Mood Through Music

And of course, if you want to know more about Mountain Sounds, the best way to keep up-to-date is to subscribe here. I’ll share everything I can as soon as I’m able. You will be hearing more about it!

1. 2025 edit: hahahahahahaha.

2. Nowadays, I’m referring to it as Mountain Sounds. Take from that what you will.

3. Reader: after writing this FAQ, I rewrote my book several more times. By the time I went out on [redacted book process], I’d written my book eight times. The revision I popped champagne for and labeled the bottle “revision that killed me” was a full three revisions before the ending one. Ouch.