How is like to be pregnant with a book?

5 min readSep 9, 2023

My goal is that by sharing the story of my writing journey, I get to inspire many people out there who for one reason or another have been forever postponing their dreams.

Most of friends by now know that I’m writing a best seller book, the most wonderful and dreadful novel in the world, and yesterday I got to beat my own writing record, I wrote 12 1/2 pages in one day!

My previous record before that was 12 pages in one day, and before that was 10 pages in one day.

I started writing with the plan to achieve at least 6 pages a day because apparently that’s how much Stephen King writes in a day.

Then I’ve made a more “realistic” project plan:

5 pages a day, every Saturdays and Sundays, while working full time Monday to Friday.

Then I’ve made this exact timeline plan for myself, to have a beginning and end date for it, after all, in life, deadlines work like magic to get things done, this is the plan I’ve made early in February 2023, sharing the copy here of exactly how I wrote it:

DRAFT NOTES START: SEPTEMBER 2022

OFFICIAL TYPING START: DECEMBER 2022

COMPLETION DATE FOR 1ST DRAFT: 13TH OF AUGUST 2023

6 MONTHS FROM TODAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2023

WRITING SCHEDULE:

EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

AT LEAST 5 PAGES A DAY =

10 PAGES WEEKEND =

40 PAGES MONTH =

240 PAGES IN 6 MONTHS + CURRENT 27 PAGES:

TOTAL BY 13TH OF AUGUST: 267 PAGES

Well, for the record, I didn’t reach 267 pages by the 13th of August as I planned.

I did stick with the plan of writing every weekends.

Sometimes feels like forever every weekend when I have to say no to all social events, and choose to stick with working on this project, but I do it because it is a powerful story that many people will connect with and that’s why I’m so passionate about it and it is worth stopping everything else in life to complete this.

I only missed a couple of weekends for very special events, such as the Melbourne Grand Prix, because I love it so much and it’s my favourite event of the year, then a weekend in Tasmania for another car race, the Super Cars, which was an amazing and gorgeous road trip from Hobart to Launceston while catching up with very dear friends, then Tasmania again a couple more times to shoot a short film which I wrote a couple of months before inspired by life events while writing the novel and working full time. Also had a filmmaking challenge weekend in Melbourne, the Filmonik Kabaret, in which I’ve made another short film which I also wrote it. Other than those, it have been a whole year of working 7 days a week, 5 in the job, 2 on the weekends writing.

But, the power of accumulation should never be underestimated!

By the 13th of August, I didn’t reach the 267 pages, I’ve reached 205 pages, plus lots of draft notes for upcoming chapters.

Was I disappointed with myself?

Absolutely not!

I’ve written 205 pages of absolutely epic storytelling, always focused on keeping high quality, and only typing when I was fully there in those places and character’s minds.

Some sessions take longer than others to reach that place, I’m human after all and most of the time exhausted after the week’s work, plus you know, we all have a life to maintain, such as buying food, cooking, cleaning, etc. But I am doing it!

I‘ve been putting everything else in life aside as much as possible to sort out later after I finish the book.

There are lots of sort out, but I have a motto in life, which is:

I always choose to do the most challenging thing first, because the most challenging things are the ones easier to let go that most people push aside and give up, but I always do it first, then after that, everything else in life is easier!

You should try!

Is there anything in life that you’re pushing aside because it’s too challenging?

If so, put on top of your list, do it first!

It will feel amazing, and you will teach yourself to develop an incredible endurance and high achieving personality along the process.

After the 13th of August, the deadline that I initially gave to myself, I replanned how long it would take to complete the book.

After the recalculations, I agreed with myself that it would be completed in one more month, by the 13th of September.

I’m writing this post on the the 9th of September, and I’m extremely pleased, happy, proud, excited and emotional, to share that I’ve reached 259 pages last night.

Must confess that every time after every session I amaze myself at how it all just happened.

By now the relationships in the story are so solid, the stories are so real and intense, that everything just unfolds, just like in real life.

It’s quite magical to experience this and extremely emotional.

Sometimes when I start I already have a full chapter drafted in the notes that I’ve done during the past weeks and months.

Sometimes I just have 2 or 3 key point notes of what happens in that point in the story.

It feels more and more emotional as everything unfolds and the characters go through more challenges and realisations.

As the end approaches, I feel exhilarated with excitement that its coming to its grand climax and completion while at the same time almost wanting to slow down to enjoy the process a little bit longer.

It must be what a pregnant woman feels like when the gestation is about to reach the 9 months and the birth of the baby is approaching.

That excitement of wanting the baby to pop out into the world, while at the same time wanting to enjoy that beautiful gestation period of feeling something coming to life inside of you.

I crave cakes and burgers and chips, all with lots of sauce and cheese.

Just like a mother who must feed a child and is hungry for 2 people or more, a writer’s brain is feeding many characters, so we must keep nourishing it with lots of care to replenish with all necessary fats, proteins and vitamins.

I’ve been sharing some posts along the journey on my instagram,

You can find the posts with the hashtag #shaillaswritingdiaries

I haven’t posted as much as I would like because every writing session I keep on writing the most I can. Usually by the point that my mind ignites in a chapter, I can keep going and going and going, but eventually the eyes get tired from all the screen time, so by that point, I don’t want anything else to do with screens.

My whole mind, heart and energy are fully invested in this book, in telling this story and sharing it with the world because I know that people will love it and connect with it and feel inspired by it, that’s my motivation to keep on writing. I just know in my heart that my book will be published and become a best seller, then it will also be turned into a very successful movie, potentially directed by Danny Boyle, I believe he will love the story and want to bring it to live for the big screens.

How is like to be pregnant with a book?

Written by Shailla Quadra

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