My Writing Process

Hello everyone! Today I thought I would take you behind the scenes of my writing process. Some writers start with a basic idea or concept and then dive right in without any planning. Some may meticulously plan and detail everything. Others, like me, may use “word vomit” and write down their story roughly and then refine it from there. Whatever the process is, find what works for you. There is no one way to do something.

1. Starting at the End. I’m a sucker for wanting to know how a story ends whenever I am reading a book. And, I’m not going to lie, sometimes I peak. But similar to how I read, I often begin with the end in mind, usually writing one particular sentence and then writing towards it.

2. Outline. Once I have the endpoint defined, I outline the major milestones and plot points that will guide my characters towards it. This outline serves as my roadmap and helps me to ensure that each scene is building towards the ending in some way or another.

I write the history of the world that they live, create rough maps of the locations (who doesn’t love a fantasy book with a map?), etc. This helps me to bring the characters to life and is a way I try to ensure that my characters are not two dimensional. If you’re interested in seeing some of these character sheets let me know! I’d love to share them.

4. Crafting Key Scenes. I don’t like to write when I am not inspired. When I looked at the major scenes that I previously outlined I pick them ones I am not excited to work on and start there. If I find I am struggling with the scene, I move on to the next and come back to it when I feel the scene click into place. If it never seems to click I like to ask myself why it isn’t working. Perhaps it needs to be restructured? A different setting? Maybe the scene seems forced? It could also no longer be necessary or the story needs to go a different direction. Or the scene may need to be removed entirely.

5. Feedback. My husband is my guinea pig, and he will read through everything to ensure that it makes sense or is fully fleshed out and cohesive. His feedback is critical in shaping the story. And once it gets the go ahead from him, I see if any of my other friends are interested in reading it to garner more feedback.

6. Rewrites and Review. Now comes the worse part, the editing process. Bleh! Here I have to go through and make sure that everything is formatted correctly, in the correct tenses, you know “dot the I’s and cross the t’s”. It’s tedious, but essential.

What’s your approach to writing? Do you have a specific method that helps you stay creative? Share your thoughts in the comments below—I’m eager to learn from your experiences too!