how do you write a book?

When I was 25, I moved from a crowded Brooklyn loft to a rural Carolina island. There, I would write my first book.

As I finished moving in, anxiety washed over me. How, exactly, do you write a book?

I’d done all the planning: finding a summer rental. Subletting my room in Brooklyn. Buying printer ink, highlighters, Post-Its.

But now I had to start. And I had no idea what I was doing.

As the days passed, I did what made sense. I wrote, swam, walked, wrote and swam some more.

When I got stuck writing, I’d go for a walk. And on those walks, ideas came to me (beautiful, useful ideas!).

Afraid I would forget them, and with no pen, paper, or phone to write them down, I decided to try something. For each good idea, I’d pick up a shell and “assign” that idea to it.

Arriving back to the condo, I’d have a handful of shells: pink conches, Scottish bonnets, shards of marbled purple.

I’d spread them along my balcony railing, and every time, each one told me what I’d asked it to remember.

Another:

I started printing out each scene, taping it to my wall, and editing it in Sharpie. Why? I don’t know. But I loved surrounding myself with the story, seeing it in color, and moving around as I edited. The novel became immersive, somatic, almost interactive.

When new friends came over, they’d see the novel coming to life.

They’d ask:

“What’s this part? What does that mean? Who’s this character?”

And in our conversations, I learned more about my novel than I had imagined possible.