Writing can be isolating, and sometimes it feels like you’re the only one struggling. It’s especially difficult when you compare your draft words to the polished words you’ll find in a published book. It was a long road to get from that initial idea to where I’m at now. I want to share the story of my many, many drafts to assure you if I can do it, so can you. And, hopefully, you won’t make nearly as many mistakes as I did.

I’d taken a romance writing class before, and I’d hated it. Don’t get me wrong; the instructor seemed very knowledgeable in her genre, but that genre happened to be straight romance. As someone who exclusively writes sapphic romance, I felt like the class was a waste of time. The writing academy, however, is specifically for people like me: members of the sapphic community who write sapphic stories.

Like most of my friends, I initially met my cowriter through gaming. We both enjoyed survival and crafting games, and for years we played games like 7 Days to Die nearly every night. It wasn’t until much later in our friendship that we broached the topic of cowriting a story together.

As much as I love stringing sentences together, there are times when seeing the word count go up isn’t enough motivation to keep me going. Sometimes I need more, which is where gaming comes in.