Guest Blog Post on Insecure Writers Support Group

Hi, everyone. I'm Hermione Lee. It's a huge honor to be invited to do a blog post here on Insecure Writers Support Group. In this post, I'll be discussing my journey of publication and the lessons I learnt along the way.

I've always known I'd be a writer. Fortune smiled upon me when I was thirteen (a month before I turned fourteen), bestowing upon me a story idea inspired by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard in my school. I birthed a manuscript titled In the Name of the Otherworld the next year in February.

The thought of completing a novel at my age thrilled me, but it also made me extremely pompous at the same time. I sent my manuscript to my aunt, who was an expert in English. Expecting a positive reply complimenting my incredible work, I waited patiently.

And then came the phone call

The feedback I reaped was far from my expectations. My aunt spotted every error in the manuscript I deemed a bestseller-to-be, from unreasonable scenes to trashy sentences. Thanking her, I decided to respect her opinion, although I thought to myself there was no need to heed her advice. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

During the next six months, I started writing a collection of….