How I Survived the Messy Middle of Writing The Fae Sisters

My writing process is… well, probably not what anyone expects. I’m not organized. I don’t write in order. I don’t follow one single “approved” method. I guess you could say I’m mostly a pantser. I don’t outline much, and even though I watched countless hours of YouTube advice, I rarely followed it exactly as told.

So how did I actually finish my debut fantasy novel, The Fae Sisters, and publish it?

It took four years, determination, and a life that never slowed down. I work full-time. I’ve been married for thirty-five years. I’m a mom of two and a grandma. My time is limited—just like so many writers who dream of finishing a book but struggle to make space for it.

In my first blog, I shared why I chose to write about the fae. But today I want to talk about something much harder:

The messy middle.
The dead zone.
That part of the story where excitement fades, doubt creeps in, and it’s so easy to walk away and chase a shiny new idea.

And I almost did. More than once.

The beginning of a book is magical. Everything is new, characters sparkle, the plot feels brilliant, and the possibilities are endless.

Then you reach the middle.

Suddenly, you’re no longer fueled by adrenaline. The characters are deeper, the conflicts heavier, and the story demands real work. This was the point where I questioned everything.

• Is this story even good?
• Why did I think I could do this?
• Wouldn’t it be easier to start another project?

And honestly? Yes. It would have been easier.

But easier never gets a book finished.

I didn’t rely on fancy systems or perfect routines. I relied on a handful of simple, stubborn things that kept me going.

I worked through the manuscript line by line. When I was done, I summarized it in a notebook so I could keep track of the events in the story. Then, I created a graph of each character’s adventures, challenges, and where I last left them. There are also two journals in the story I had to track. The father’s journal records his experiences with the fae, while Hanna’s (his daughter) journal keeps track of the clues while solving… wait, not so fast. I am not giving anything away here. 😉

I allowed the draft to be messy and imperfect. I allowed the process to unfold and listened to the advice my characters offered through their story. After all, they know best—it’s their story. I took it one scene at a time.

Not the whole novel.
Not the entire journey.
Just the next moment.

Sometimes I write for five minutes. Sometimes I wrote a few paragraphs. It added up.

I kept another notebook with a graph with six columns: characters, chapter, plot, conflict, purpose of the scene, word count, and book word count. This helped me figure out what needed to happen next.  

I stopped comparing myself with other writers. There are thousands of videos, tutorials, and opinions about “how real writers write.” I had to accept that my process didn’t need to look like anyone else’s. I also had to accept that this is my first novel, not my twentieth. Once I owned that, I felt free, and I remembered why I started writing in the first place.

I loved these characters.
I loved their world.
I loved the magic woven through their struggles.

When doubt crept in, I went back to the heart of the story and reminded myself why it mattered.

Books aren’t finished because writers are perfectly organized or endlessly confident.

Books are finished because writers are stubborn.

They chose to keep going.
They chose to trust the story.
They chose to return, even on the hard days.

That’s how The Fae Sisters was born—not out of perfection, but persistence.

 If you’re stuck in the middle, remember this:

Don’t quit.
Don’t delete your work.
Don’t convince yourself it doesn’t matter.

Your story deserves a chance to exist.

I didn’t rely on fancy systems or perfect routines. I relied on a handful of simple things that kept me going.

If a working, busy, imperfect, mostly-pantser grandma could finish a four-year fae fantasy novel… you can finish yours too. And when you finally type “The End,” it feels worth every doubt-filled day.

If you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look, I’d love for you to experience the story that came out of this journey.

The Fae Sisters is available now!

Explore the book: https://www.amazon.com/author/tracymarie

And if you do read it, come back and tell me what you think!