Third time’s a charm: student author completes first novel

Junior psychology and screenwriting double major Nicole Birch completed her first novel under the working title ‘The Merchant’s Daughter’ after two years of drafting. UNSPLASH

After two years of building her passion-project from the ground up, junior psychology and screenwriting double major Nicole Birch sat poolside at Chapman Grand staring at her computer. Now with 32 chapters and over 200 written pages, this was supposed to be the moment of ecstasy. 

She had finally completed the first draft of her first novel. 

But sometimes the finish line isn’t one defining moment marked with a beautiful ribbon or glistening confetti. Other times you sit there and think, “Well… that’s done.”

Nicole Birch is planning to contact agents, who hopefully will take the novel through the traditional publishing process. Photo courtesy of Nicole Birch

“I was like ‘Wow, this was so anticlimactic,’” Nicole Birch told The Panther. “I've worked on this book for two years. I thought I would feel something more. And then afterwards, it came to me. I was like, ‘Damn, she's finished. She's rough but finished.’”

Under the working title “The Merchant’s Daughter,” Nicole Birch’s first completed novel revolves around the religious and political turmoil of an Elizabethian-era land, when a young woman discovers that she’s a goddess. While the project is the third attempt at writing a novel, her love of writing stems all the way back to her early childhood in San Diego. 

“I've always loved writing, ever since the first grade,” Nicole Birch said. “We started having these writing contests every week, and I won pretty much every week. I always really enjoyed it. I did more school writing contests and then I realized you can be a writer for a career. I decided, probably when I was 12, that I wanted to do this. No matter what kind of writing I do, I have to do this.”

Her first attempted novel came in middle school when she wrote five pages about a young girl part of a race of people who create dreams for humans. In high school, she tried again, reaching around 80 pages focusing on a dystopian society on another planet that watches Earth. Over the years of developing stories, she found a writing process best suited for her. 

“I love writing in libraries," Nicole Birch said. "I’m always looking for somewhere new to write and I don’t like to be in the same spot for too long unless I’m really in a groove. I usually get my coffee and motivate myself, then write in two-hour blocks before I take a break. And I always have music to write to.”

Nicole Birch told The Panther that the genre of the music needs to match the genre of her story she is working on. For dystopian or sci-fi thrillers, electronic music fits the vibe. For high fantasy and medieval stories, she likes to stick to movie soundtracks — specifically the “Game of Thrones” soundtrack for “The Merchant’s Daughter.”

Now with her first completed draft, Nicole Birch has sent the project off to beta readers who will check for grammatical and continuity errors. Despite having to constantly share her work at Chapman through screenwriting classes, she describes the editing process of her novel as “petrifying.”

“I feel like with a script, I'm like ‘Okay, I know this is going out to someone, I know someone's gonna read this, It's gonna be in a table-read or read by professors,’” Nicole Birch said. “I'm used to harsh critiques on my scripts. With my writing — like my novel — it’s very personal. It’s really odd, the openness I have with scripts and how closed off I am with my books.”

In order to break the ice, Nicole Birch trusted her mother, Elizabeth Birch, as the first to read over the project. Due to their tight-knit relationship, she shared her vision with her mother from the very beginning. 

“I’m honored my daughter trusts me enough to bounce ideas off of me and lets me read her work,” Elizabeth Birch said. “I love the research she’s done to frame the people and regions in her story from topics related to religion, language, ethnicity, clothes and art. Nicole’s creativity is a gift from God. Her imagination has always been astonishing to me as I’ve watched her skill and ability grow.”

Nicole Birch cites Victoria Aveyard’s “The Red Queen” series as her biggest source of inspiration for her novels, as her writing focuses on strong young women who come face to face with the divine or supernatural. 

“(Aveyard) actually went to school at USC for screenwriting and then wrote a novel, so I was like ‘Oh, I could do that,’” Nicole Birch said. “I can be an author, but also go to school for screenwriting. I just love the way she wrote ("The Red Queen")  and she made me believe that there was something out there for me.”

As she became engrossed in the perils of a college work schedule, she learned a valuable lesson that she’ll take into her next novel: to write even when the time isn’t perfect.

“It’s very difficult to find time for editing my novel this semester,” Nicole Birch said. “I used to be in the mindset that I can only sit down to write when I know I have dedicated time. But now that I’m so busy, I know I need to sit down and write, even if I just have five minutes. It’s not always going to be the perfect time to write or edit but you kind of have to do it.”

After spending two years in the world of “The Merchant’s Daughter,” Nicole Birch isn’t sick of it just yet and hopes to start developing the sequel in the future. For now, she’ll focus on the editing and distribution process of her current project and fulfill a promise she made to her mother. 

“I’ve made her promise that she must let me be at her first book signing,” Elizabeth Birch said. “My hope for Nicole is that she will fulfill her dreams and follow her heart.”

Following the editing process, Nicole Birch will get in contact with agents who will take the novel through the traditional publishing process, which she hopes will help the book end up in a library one day.