First, Write A Bestselling, Critically Acclaimed Debut Novel. Then, Figure It All Out Again.

Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing, says it’s not easy to recreate the feel of writing her first novel, which she wrote in a dank little apartment in Iowa City. “Every day I would wake up in the dungeon, head to my nook, sit at my desk and feel proud and productive and contented. I’m trying to recapture that feeling.”