Inside the Nation (My writing process)

My writing process

Each author has his/her own way of writing a book. Some use story boards, some write out a short synopsis for each chapter, others just start to write. I am the latter. Once an idea of a book comes to mind, I talk it out either with myself (Yes, I talk to myself) or one of my RedInk ladies. I play around with the idea, change a few things, and then go on a research frenzy. After all the research is done, and believe me, that can take a long time, I start to write.

When I start writing I listen to the characters. If it is a character that I have written before, the process is much smoother because we know each other pretty well. If it is a new character it may take a while for us to come up with a good rhythm. I tend to want to rush my characters and when they take too long to speak to me I will write it myself. That is always a big mistake. Why do I keep doing it, because I am impatient and a bit hard-headed, remember this is a no judgement zone. When I let my characters do the talking the process goes a lot better. Now granted, there is some re-writes and editing and re-writes and more editing, because characters are fickle beings, but for me it’s easier than pushing dialogue that doesn’t flow well.

When I say my characters speak to me, I mean when I’m writing I do not see the words on the page, I see the action going on. I do not say “What would Sari do here”, I write what Sari say’s or what the scene is playing out in my mind. I hope that doesn’t sound too crazy to some of you, but there it is. I have been asked several times what I do when I have writers block and my answer is always the same. I do not get writers block, I write while my characters are talking and when they stop, I stop.

I’m not saying my way will work for everyone, it just works best for me. If it helps you to write a short synopsis of each character go for it, if you have to get a story board together, great, as long as the book gets finished. For me, however, if I do it any other way I end up scraping the project and/or starting over. Write in the manner that is comfortable for you, just write. That is the goal, to finish, to get it out of you head and on to the screen.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to see how my crazy mind works. As always, I wish you happy reading and happy writing!

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