Top 5 Writing Lessons I Learned from Writing My First Novel at Age 11

#4: Your writing passion can make you or break you

When I was 11 years old, I finished my first novel.

It was a fantasy-adventure novel, consisting of 253 pages, all handwritten. As a fifth-grader, I had a writing mentor who was also my language teacher at school. He used to be my favorite teacher — until one day, he “pushed” me to publish my novel.

And I refused.

Here is the story of my naïve and precious childhood, and the bittersweet lessons I learned along the way of my writing journey.

The Beginning: How I Ended up Writing a Novel at Age 11

Since I was a child, I loved reading books, especially novels.

There was a novelist I really liked named Andrea Hirata whom I spent much of my younger days reading his novels. My favorite work of his is a novel called “Edensor” which tells a story about the journey of two best friends who received scholarships to study in France.

Hirata showed me the world in another guise. He told stories about dreams, hopes, and explorations — wrapped in an ironic tale that is entertaining, intelligent, and full of imagination.

His book illuminated my mind with childlike wonder and lingered in my memory because of its connection to real life. It was extraordinary that it inspired me to write my own novel.

Because of him, I was determined to be a novelist.

I have written several short stories before and have published several of them in my school magazine. At that time, I had a teacher who taught the Indonesian language — my mother tongue — in school. Let’s call him Mr. Ben.

Mr. Ben knew about my writing passion, so I openly told him about my desire to become a novelist. He was thrilled to hear it and quickly volunteered to become my writing mentor.

Long story short, I started writing the novel. My writing process was a smooth sail. Every week, I would report the progress to Mr. Ben.

The drama started after I finished my novel in a roughly 3 months period. After some necessary revisions, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I came up to Mr. Ben and showed him the final draft. I was so satisfied with the result that I told Mr. Ben I wanted to write more novels.

Mr. Ben stood in front of me, looking dejected. Obviously, he disagreed with my opinion. He insisted I had to publish it first.

I didn’t clearly remember what happened, but in the end — I didn’t publish it.

As I had many ideas to write, I didn’t want to let the spark die. I was feeling on top of the world.

So by the end of the semester, I had written 2 other novels and 1 other novella — and left all of them unpublished.

The Lesson: 5 Truths about Writing I’ve Learned The Hard Way

Looking back, I realize that Mr. Ben wasn’t trying to “force” anything on me.

As a writing mentor and a second parent, he was there as a resource for my creative growth. He saw the “potential” in me at a young age. He wanted to encourage me to write and publish my work. He wanted the best for me.

On my writing journey, I have learned many lessons and truths about writing. Here are the top five lessons I’d like to share with you.

1. Read voraciously

As someone who has been reading since the age of 4, the books I read as a child influenced my writing as an adult a lot. In my childhood and teenage years, I read a lot of fiction. But since college, I mostly read nonfiction.

Reading is crucial in being a writer, but if you want to be a good writer, don’t just read — you need to read voraciously.

Whatever genre you read, reading will expand your mind and broaden your knowledge. It will develop your ideas of stylistic items — graceful narration, metaphor, transition, voice, and more.

If reading isn’t your number one hobby, pursuit, or recreation — you need to reconsider being a writer.

We write because we read, and we learn from other’s writing. As Francine Prose once said:

“Like most — maybe all — writers, I learned to write by writing and, by example, by reading books.”

— Francine Prose

2. Write for the sake of art

When I wrote my first novel, I had no idea what genre it was. I just wrote it and when it’s finished, Mr. Ben said it belonged to the adventure fantasy genre.

As it turns out, not knowing or thinking about what genre your book belongs to can be valuable, because it offers you greater freedom to stray from genre expectations and to play with form and subject.

Genre is a concept created by publishers and literary critics, but not that important or valuable to working writers.

If you want to write a book or novel, don’t worry too much about your genre.

Sometimes, you just need to write for the sake of art, let your creativity wander, and save the commercial analysis for later.

3. It’s never too late to write and publish your book

I was fortunate to start my writing journey at a young age. Even though I haven’t published my novels yet, I already published several collections of my writing.

According to a study, the average age of an author's first publication is 36 years old.

A very famous author named Gordon Korman wrote his first book at 12 and wrote over 80 fiction books in four decades of his writing career. On the other hand, one of Britain’s most successful novelists, Mary Wesley, wrote her first novel at 70 and sold three million copies of her books.

There are absolutely no age restrictions when writing a book. Whether you’re 20 or 80, you can start writing your first book right now and publish it within the next few months.

The point is to remember that no matter which writer you are — or hope to become — there are plenty of literary giants you can look to as role models.

4. Your writing passion can make you or break you

At age 14, instead of continuing to write, I somehow became an artist who drew literally anything—from random doodles to human (and nonhuman) faces.

Then, I got into graphic design at 15, became a drummer in a rock band at 16 — on and on for about 3 years in my music career, and entered the entrepreneurship world by building my first business when I was 18.

During those years, even though I didn’t write in quite a long time, I never forgot how much I loved writing. There were many things I wanted to try in my youth.

My passion can wait.

And isn’t that what’s mesmerizing about life? Sometimes you just need to let it surprise you.

Surprisingly, I came back to writing at 23.

Your passion can indeed make you or break you. Luckily for me, even though it took me a decade to get back to my “self”, I have chosen the former.

What matters is what you are now and what you want to be in the future. Sometimes, taking a break is good for your soul so you can evaluate, reflect, and work to create a life you love.

Self-care and balance are also essential elements in pursuing your writing dream, or anything your heart tells you. And when you’re ready, you can truly be your wonderful, authentic self.

5. Writing is not just about you

As a child, I used to write for myself, and only myself. That’s why I didn’t publish my novels. I just loved the writing activity itself.

But writing is a liminal act; one that comes from a place between the writer and the world — the writer and the page.

Your writing can only ever become meaningful through the interaction between you and your readers.

The interaction can be presented clearly and explicitly — such as when readers provide genuine feedback by leaving thoughtful comments on your writing.

However, most of the meaningful inspiration that emerges is inexplicit and invisible to the eye. They hide in the subconscious mind of the reader and may manifest as catalysts, hopes, comforts, or dreams.

They cannot be shown or seen, and yet they are the most powerful kind of impact of showing our writings to the world.

Had I not read Andrea Hirata’s novel, I probably wouldn’t dream of becoming a writer. And I wouldn’t have read his novel in the first place if Hirata didn’t publish it.

Getting your writing out there is a way to find the spark that ignites your soul and reminds you of how much the story matters. As Stephen King once said:

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination but should finish in the reader’s.” — Stephen King

The Ending: My Reflection After 12 Years Have Passed

Writing novels at an early age has played a huge role as the foundation of my creative mind. And the time I devoted to writing (and reading) has influenced my writing immensely.

Since I got my writing epiphany about publishing my work, the writing activity itself has become more fulfilling to me. I discovered another source of happiness when I write, not only for myself — but also for the readers.

Now, after 12 years have passed, I have nothing to regret.

Don’t take your stories and life experiences for granted. Write them down, hold on to those memories, and let them be part of history. As Neil Gaiman beautifully put it:

“Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story. Someone who with that story may have hope, wisdom, kindness, or comfort. And that is why we write.”―Neil Gaiman