What if the version of you who started writing late at night, was already building the foundation for everything you’re doing now?
Abigail Keyes author journey didn’t begin with a perfectly mapped-out author career. It began with curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
She built a creative life that slowly revealed itself, one connection, one draft, one unexpected pivot at a time.
In this conversation, Abigail shares how she went from being an intelligence analyst to becoming a book coach and developmental editor, and why the creative process is so much less linear than we want it to be.
Highlights
Creativity is truth
Abigail reframes creativity as something deeply personal, not something you manufacture for approval.
It’s about pulling inspiration from everywhere, but still having the courage to sit with what’s real for you, even when the world has expectations.
“Creativity is really taking unique perspectives and mashing them all together... being able to sit with your own truth, right? Being a creative person means that you have these moments where you have to tune out what everyone else is expecting of you.”
The work gets better when it gets more honest.
The behind-the-scenes part is where the magic lives
We often only see the finished book, the launch post, the polished success story.
But Abigail reminds us that the best part is the unseen part.
The experimenting. The drafts no one else reads. The creative playground where you get to try things out.
“We don’t see a lot of what happens behind the scenes... But that’s the good stuff. That’s the fun part. When you get to play, when you get to experiment, nobody’s eyes are on it except for you.”
Connections open doors you can’t always plan for
Talent matters. So does effort.
But Abigail is honest about something most creatives don’t talk about enough: timing and relationships often shape careers in surprising ways.
“It’s just kind of meeting the right people at the right time or just being connected with the right person at the right time and not necessarily even seeking them out. But somehow they just sort of find their way to you and open up doors.”
Sometimes your next step finds you before you even know you’re looking.
Your “why” is what carries you through the hard middle
Motivation is unreliable. Life gets busy. Doubt shows up.
Abigail encourages authors to go deeper than surface-level goals and find the reason underneath the reason.
The why that can actually sustain you.
“Figure out your why. Like why are you writing this book? And then… do the five whys... that deep why is going to be the thing that sustains you as you write.”
Even if your excitement fades, your why stays.
The cringe phase is not a problem
Every writer wants to skip the awkward beginner stage.
Abigail says you can’t and you shouldn’t.
Because feeling dissatisfied doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means your taste is growing faster than your skill, and that’s part of the path.
“The stuff that you’re making as a beginner feels really cringy because you want to make something that’s better. But I think that’s really important... because if you’re making stuff that you’re not satisfied with, I feel like that says, oh, you have good taste.”
Keep going. That’s how mastery happens.
Editing is collaboration
Abigail gives such a grounding perspective on what editing actually is.
Not someone rewriting your book or taking agency away from you.
But a process of refining the work together to achieve the author’s vision.
“An editor is not there to tell you what you can and cannot do with your book. It’s always up to the author to say, okay, I like that or yeah, I don’t know. I don’t agree with that.”
The reader experience is the whole point
At the end of the day the goal is making something that feels good to read and invites others into your world.
“It’s all about what’s going to be the best reader experience. Because really, we’re writing so that people can read it.”
Closing reflection
Abigail’s story is such a good reminder that creative careers aren’t built in straight lines.
They’re built through experimentation, relationships, drafts that never see the light of day, and staying open long enough for your work to become what it’s meant to be.
If you’re in the middle of writing something messy, unsure, unfinished, and need an extra hand getting it across the finish line, sign up for a free call where we’ll work together to show you the way forward.
Also a big thanks to Tomesha Campbell, Adela Dalto Moraux, and many others for tuning into my live video with Abigail Keyes!
