Ep 179: Meg Mitchell Moore on Messy First Drafts and Why Nobody Has Publishing Figured Out
Ten books in, Meg Mitchell Moore still doesn't know what her plot is going to be when she starts writing.
Meg Mitchell Moo
Ten books in, Meg Mitchell Moore still doesn't know what her plot is going to be when she starts writing.
Meg Mitchell Moore has published ten novels. And she still starts most of them with no idea what's going to happen. No outline, no plot, sometimes not even a reason her characters are in the room together. She figures it out as she goes, often with her agent's or editor's help.
If that sounds like it shouldn't work, that's kind of the point of this conversation. It does work. It's worked ten times! And I love how honest Meg is about the fact that her first drafts are a mess and revisions are where it all comes together.
We also get into the parts of book publishing that show up in very few highlight reels. Meg talks about learning, book by book, how much of a "big author moment" (the 10-city tour, the massive publisher push) is actually the author funding it themselves. She talks about the fear of writing a book with no contract attached to it, and how that fear doesn't necessarily go away with experience.
We talk about the business-versus-art tension every working writer eventually has to make peace with, and why the current pace of the industry has authors feeling more frantic than they perhaps did fifteen years ago, even as the community itself has gotten more supportive.
ABOUT MEG MITCHELL MOORE
Website: www.megmitchellmoore.com
Instagram: @megmitchellmoore
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MegMitchellMoore
CLICK HERE to order Down with the Shipmans
CLICK HERE to download the Self-Publishing Action Plan
CLICK HERE TO HELP YOUR BOOK GET MORE VISIBILITY ON AMAZON!
Want to Stay in the Know?
Sign up to receive the latest book industry news and updates!
Ready to Write the Damn Book Already?
Get the first draft of your nonfiction or memoir written in 33 days!
...even if you don't have a cabin in the wilderness, 4 uninterrupted hours a day to write, or confidence that you're a "real" writer.
Amazon Ads for Indie Authors!
Learn how to run Amazon ads that actually work—even if you’ve never touched an ad platform in your life.
Want all my best author email templates?
From communicating with your launch team to building long-term relationships with readers, these templates take all the guesswork out of writing emails that turn email subscribers into loyal readers!
Need Coaching, Accountability & Community?
The Book Writers Collective provides the coaching, support, and writers' community you need to bring your book to life!
SELF-PUBLISHING STARTER KIT
Discover the exact steps to focus on (and mistakes to avoid) so you can self-publish an incredible book that's indistinguishable in quality from a New York Times bestseller.
