The Happy Life of an Overthinking Author
Author Courtney Walsh explains how she was able to find happiness in her writing—even as an overthinking author—after she hit a wall and questioned whether she should give up her writing career altogether.
There is more than one way to write a book.
This is the advice I wish someone had given me when I first started writing 15 years ago. I knew I wanted to write a novel, so I began to hunt down information on the best way to do that. And by “hunt down,” I mean I read blog posts from other authors detailing their process and tried to copy that process exactly.
I’d sit in workshops at conferences, taking furious notes, absorbing “the right way” to write a novel, thinking I could plug my ideas, my words, my characters into someone else’s formula and end up with a completed book.
And I think, to some extent, that’s exactly what I did. It’s great to learn from those who’ve already done it.
But more recently, I began to realize that if you ask 10 authors to explain their process, you’ll get 10 different answers—and that is the beauty of being a novelist.
Because there’s more than one way to write a novel. And every author has the right to find the way that works best for them.
I tend to be a rule follower, always in search of “the best” way to do something. Not just writing, either. I want the best way to get to the grocery store. The best way to plan a vacation. The best way to learn to run a mile. I’m always striving for perfection.
But perfect is the enemy of good.
The “best” can steal your joy—and really, who has time to loathe what they do for a living?
I spent many years writing the novels this way. I loved the books I was writing, but if I’m honest, the process was always a struggle. And then, after nearly a decade of writing according to the way other people were doing it, I hit a wall. I felt stalled out. I was frustrated. Words weren’t coming easily, and I didn’t feel like I was connecting with readers the way I’d hoped.
It might seem counterproductive, but I knew that what I needed wasn’t to force more books into the world. I needed to take a break. An intentional break, away from the characters and worlds and stories that lived in my mind.
I needed a reboot. Return to factory settings. And in some ways, I needed to un-learn a few things. Because while some of the advice I’d stored away, furiously writing in those workshops, served me well. . .some of that advice hindered me.
Because I was trying to create using someone else’s blueprint.
Sometimes the pressure we put on ourselves chokes out our creativity. Holds it in a death grip like a boa constrictor. And I’m the queen of self-inflicted pressure.
But during that intentional break, the pressure began to loosen. And I started to want something different for my writing process.
I didn’t know all of this until after my break ended, and I was at a crossroads. I knew I had a choice: I could lay my writing career down—after all, my husband and I own a performing arts studio and youth theatre that I find incredibly fulfilling—or I could find a way to write something just for fun. Something I would want to read. Something that would make me happy.
I didn’t care if that book won awards. I didn’t care if it was impressive to critics. All I cared about was telling a story I would love to read about characters I wanted to know.
I threw all my thoughts on branding out the window. I wrote in a different tense. I created a character that consumed my thoughts for weeks, a character who almost feels like one of my children. I tapped in to a different side of my voice, maybe my truest voice because I broke all of my own rules.
And you know what? It made me happy.
Which is funny considering that was exactly what my character was searching for.
Happiness isn’t a one size fits all kind of thing, and the same can be said for writing a novel. What makes me happy isn’t going to make another author happy—and that is the beauty of it. The trick is to find the things that make you happy and build your career around that.
Because writing might be work, but it doesn’t have to be laborious. And creativity thrives when you let it out to play.
The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a bit of a departure for me. But it’s quite possibly the most special story I’ve ever told. When I think of it, I feel like there’s something precious about it—because it represents an awakening for me as an author.
Order The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh today.
This book taught me not to take myself so seriously, to stop caring so much about “rules,” to write straight from the heart, and to let myself play.
Because as I’ve gotten older I’ve forgotten the critical importance of “play” when it comes to the creative process.
This book helped me find my happiness. Helped me find my voice. And helped me remember why I started writing in the first place—and it started when I listened to my own heart and quieted all the other voices coming at me, telling me the way.
I don’t know much, but I do know that “the way” is different for everyone—and I vow to stay true to my way from here on out.
It’s the best way to be a happy writer.
Courtney Walsh is a novelist, theatre director, and playwright. She writes small town romance and women's fiction while juggling the performing arts studio and youth theatre she owns with her husband. She is the author of 13 novels. Her debut, A Sweethaven Summer, hit the New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller lists and was a Carol Award finalist. Her novel Just Let Go won the Carol in 2019, and three of her novels have also been Christy-award finalists. A creative at heart, Courtney has also written three craft books and several musicals. She lives in Illinois with her husband and three children.
