It’s never too late to write your next chapter

Many people carry a story they would like to write. It might be a novel, a family memory, or an idea that has stayed with them for years. The difficult part is often deciding that the idea deserves a beginning, even when the path to a finished book is uncertain.

Victoria Day Najjar brought that experience to Xemplar Club on November 5, 2025. A former English and journalism teacher, she had spent years helping students understand writing. Creating her own novel required a different kind of learning: making choices, trying methods, and continuing through the parts that did not come easily.

Her presentation, shared below, is a reminder that a new creative chapter can draw on everything that came before it.

An idea can begin with a question

Najjar described seeing a television story about a troubled young woman and imagining a different future for her. That emotional response became a starting point for fiction. The result was not a retelling of the television report, but the beginning of an invented story.

Writers often begin this way. Something catches their attention and refuses to leave: a situation, a person, an unanswered question. The next step is to explore what could happen, rather than waiting for an entire book to arrive fully formed.

For someone writing family memories, the starting point might be smaller still. Why did a parent choose a particular job? What happened on a memorable trip? Which ordinary detail would a grandchild never know unless someone wrote it down?

Give yourself permission to learn the craft

Najjar’s first novel, Tampa Bay Runaway, took about four years to write. Her background in teaching literature did not remove the work of learning how to construct a novel. Reading and discussing a finished story are different from creating its characters, scenes, and movement yourself.

That distinction is encouraging. Experience gives you material and perspective, but being new at a particular task is still normal. A slow first attempt is not evidence that you should stop.

She also described the importance of writers’ groups and the support of her husband, Jeff, in the self-publishing process. Feedback and practical help allowed the project to move beyond the private act of writing.

Find a method that fits your mind

A conventional outline did not suit Najjar’s process. She found other ways to organize a story, including timelines and maps of relationships between characters.

One especially useful technique involved printing scenes, summarizing them in a few words, and arranging them where she could see the sequence. Color helped distinguish characters. Moving the pieces made it possible to consider a different order before revising the manuscript.

You can borrow that idea without writing a novel. Put family events on separate cards, arrange them by year or theme, and notice the missing pieces. A visible structure can reveal where a story needs explanation and where two memories belong together.

The useful method is the one that helps you keep working. It can be a notebook, a wall of cards, or a document on a computer.

When a scene stalls, change the view

Najjar shared another writing approach: reconsider a scene from a different character’s perspective. An observer or someone at the edge of the conversation may notice what the central character misses.

This does more than solve a technical problem. It encourages curiosity about other people. What does each person want? What do they misunderstand? What might the reader learn by seeing the same moment through another pair of eyes?

If you are writing nonfiction memories, keep the distinction clear between what you know and what you imagine. You can describe your own recollection and acknowledge uncertainty without inventing another person’s thoughts.

A finished book begins another kind of work

Najjar’s presentation also included her collaboration with Ryan and Dylan Mitchell on introducing her work to readers. Their discussion emphasized helping people become familiar with an author before expecting them to buy a book.

Short writing tips, conversations about books, and useful videos give readers a reason to return. Different formats serve different purposes: a quick clip can introduce an idea, while a longer video can explore the author’s process.

The team also discussed experimenting with AI-generated audiobook voices. Their example involved detailed review of dialogue, emotion, and pacing. Technology added another production option, but it still required deliberate decisions about how the story should sound.

Begin with one page

At the time of her visit, Najjar described work beyond her first novel, including China Doll Dynasty and an early project called Murder at Devlin High. The creative journey was continuing, rather than ending with one accomplishment.

For the rest of us, the next step can be much smaller: write a scene, record a memory, or join a group where people share work respectfully. You do not need to know the whole route before taking the first step.

Thank you, Victoria, for sharing both the excitement and the effort behind your books—and for reminding us that learning, imagination, and persistence have no retirement date.