 Stead began writing First Light in 2002 , but had no experience prior to that . The first draft turned out confusing and unorganized . To help her , Stead met with Wendy Lamb , an editor Stead had met in a workshop a few years before . Lamb suggested that Stead meet with a " critique group " who would help read and revise the drafts Stead wrote . After Stead created a revised copy of the novel in 2005 , she sent it to Lamb again and a contract was drawn up . More revisions were made in order to make the new world created in the novel easier to understand . Stead found it hard " to maintain a sense of ' the whole ' . Over and over I mapped out the book out for myself using post @-@ its in a <unk> <unk> , trying to get a sense of where the tension went " . The novel took three years to complete . 
