Hello, my pretties!

January has a very particular energy for writers. It’s hopeful. Slightly wobbly. And often accompanied by a half-finished manuscript glaring accusingly at us from a folder labeled “FINAL_FINAL_v3_REALLY_THIS_TIME.”

Many of you will have arrived at this moment on the back of a writing challenge. Perhaps you participated in ProWritingAid’s NovNov, or one of the other new incarnations of National Novel Writing Month, this past year. Or perhaps your writing journey started with something quieter and more personal. Maybe you’ve finished a draft. Maybe you stalled halfway through. Maybe you surprised yourself just by starting. Or maybe you’re an experienced writer wanting to start something new, or to restart if you have lost momentum.

These all count.

That’s where I want to begin this year’s conversation—not with productivity targets or publishing jargon but with a gentler and more foundational question.

What Kind of Author Are You?

Writing challenges are wonderful. They give us permission to prioritize creativity and to write badly without apology. Looking back at half-forgotten manuscripts allows us to reinvent. To start again. What I plan to explore in this new series is how to move from wannabe to writer. From projects to published. From hobbyist to professional.

Over the years, I’ve learned that an author isn’t someone who writes flawlessly or even consistently. An author is someone who returns. Returns after doubt. Returns after distraction. Returns after telling themselves they’ve failed.

If you’re reading this, you’re already returning.

This year, I’m returning too, in a way that feels oddly vulnerable for someone who has been around the indie block a few times. I’m starting again. I’m setting up a brand-new pen name and re-walking many of the early paths that new writers face. Genre research. Positioning. Drafting. Second-guessing. Quiet excitement. Mild terror.

Many authors have multiple pen names. A pen name allows one to write in a different genre without confusing our readers. It allows us to experiment, take chances, and be creative. For me, I want to reignite my passion for writing and try out a different genre. I currently work in cozy mysteries, and I love them, but I want to explore other cozy genres, like small town romance.

Think of this series as a shared notebook rather than a rulebook. I’m not here to tell you what to do, and I won’t be sharing my pen name or locking anything in publicly. But I will be sharing my thinking. My reasoning. The mistakes I avoid and the ones I make anyway. Each time we meet, I will also take a few lines to provide you with a few reflection questions and my “reality check-in,” where I’ll come clean and tell you how this journey has been going for me.

I’ll of course run into challenges along the way—and so will you. But that is part of the beauty of it. Over the next year, I’ll show you how decisions get made in the real world: imperfectly and iteratively.

The Start of the Journey

Often, at the start of a new or unfamiliar journey, we push ourselves to have all the answers. Should I use a pen name? What genre am I really in? Is this commercially viable? Am I already behind?

We’ll get to all of that. I promise. But for now, resist the urge to decide everything at once. What you need this month is not a brand or a strategy. You need intention.

Ask yourself what you want this year to be about. Exploration. Commitment. Learning the business. Finishing something. Beginning something new.

Then, as we move through this year together and work toward our respective goals, I invite you to make one simple commitment: I will stay curious and kind with myself as I learn.

That alone will carry you further than you think.

Reflection Exercise

What do you want your writing year to be about? For me and my new pen name I want to fire up my creativity and challenge myself in a new genre.

I said earlier this series will be like a shared notebook. And what good is a notebook without some space for further reflection?

Take ten quiet minutes and answer these honestly:

What did attempting or finishing a draft teach me about how I write?
What part of the process felt energizing?
What part felt draining?
What would “staying on the path” look like for me this year?

Put your answers somewhere safe. We’ll come back to them.

Reality Check-In

I spent a lot of time over the festive season playing with new pen names. My aim is to launch a romance series, so it’s going to be very different from my cozy mystery work so far. To get myself in the mood, I have also been binge-reading books that align with my new genre. We will get to all that in future articles, but I have been having a lot of fun! And, that’s what writing should always be.

Happy writing,

Susan