Welcome to Coast Notes: Documenting my novel writing process

Hello! My name is Abby and I’m a freelance lifestyle writer living on Cornwall’s beautiful and wild north coast. I am a cliché and have indeed wanted to write a novel since I could read. And yet somehow I find myself a good chunk of my way into adulthood having failed to do so. So I decided to get serious about it this year and document the process here.

I bought myself a new keyboard, I’ve printed out a word count chart above my desk to track progress, I have a (terribly sporadically updated) instagram account and now this: I’m writing a blog! I know, I know. The way to write a novel isn’t to write a blog. But I’m hoping to untangle some threads here. And one day, I thought it might be nostalgic to look back on. It might even help a few people. But, as ever, I am getting deliriously ahead of myself.

Seeing if I can respond to motivational stickers if they’re shiny and gem-like enough.

The problem is, I am a planner. To a fault. I think there might be a few of us around. I have “planned” to write a novel since I was about 5-years-old. Like many aspiring authors, this earnest planning has included, but is not limited to:

Writing lots of very bad fiction
Writing lots of mediocre fiction
Writing the occasional sentence I can bear
Occasionally arranging a couple of words which I’m almost happy with
Reading an inordinate amount of books on craft, publishing etc.
Attending fiction writing courses
Discussing my plans with my now quite openly bored nearest and dearest
Justifying endless book purchases in the name of research
Completing my first manuscript in lockdown with a newborn
Realising early motherhood and a national lockdown is not actually fertile ground for creativity and the manuscript is Not Good
Going off the whole idea and wondering if I shouldn’t pursue a change of career as a psychologist or a swimming teacher or an email marketing expert instead
Realising I lack the fundamental disposition required for such roles
Having A Good Idea
Plotting it out manically, lest it get away from me
Setting strict word deadlines
Failing to meet said deadlines because they are imposed by me and not an external editor
*existential crisis*
Deciding to be less of a weirdo and just try and turn up each morning and spend at least 30 minutes writing…

…which brings me to now. And it’s not very groundbreaking but it’s the only way I have ever managed to finish a manuscript before: turning up to the page frequently and not having any real expectations.

Because my last manuscript was not great, I abandoned it and I haven’t ever had the experience of editing. I think it might suit me better than manhandling a whole plot onto the page. I’m not sure there’s a way to do that that isn’t at least a little bit messy, even with chapter summaries and character notes and all the rest of it. You can only prepare so much.

But first, I shall finish the draft! I’m at 36,000 words and I’d like to get it finished by the end of November. Then I’ll take Christmas off to forget it and eat too many mince pies. I’m hoping I’ll come back with fresh eyes and zest in 2026, ready to get it ship-shape and ready to submit to agents early next spring.

Lowen the goldie is my Christmas vibe goal.

But if I’ve learned anything, it’s something to do with the best laid plans, and all that…

On that note - I must jet! Just a few more school runs until the summer holidays is upon us and I for one can’t wait. Excited? Definitely. Naive? Probably.

Let me know what you’re working on down below! And if you’d like more glimpses into my life as a writer on the Cornish coast, follow along on Instagram.