My Writing Process…Um, am I supposed to have one of those?

I’ve been asked on more than one occasion about my “writing process.” The first time, I cocked my head to the side like the RCA Victor dog, whined a little, and realized I’d never given it any thought. Do I have a process? I suppose, though “process” seems much too strong a word for how I tend to slap words down on a keyboard.

Every author has a different way to approach a story. Some are organized beyond belief, and others tend to fly by the seat of their pants. Both approaches work, because in the end how you manage to get that idea out of your head and down on paper is what works for YOU.

The basic steps, though, are the same for everyone:

1) There’s a light bulb floating above your head. You have an idea you want to expand into a story. What do you do? You research. Gather pertinent details. Learn. Outline. Figure out plot points. Visualize your characters…names, physical details, figure out their strengths & weaknesses, and get to know them as people rather than random names that will soon be stumbling (hopefully with a purpose) through your plot. By doing these steps, you’re “prepping the battlefield” for what comes next. Personally, my prep work isn’t very extensive compared to other writers I know … I do as much as I need to do get a basic soup-to-nuts story arc in my noggin, figure out my character’s basic traits, and BANG goes the starter’s pistol: Write, write, write, edit, edit, edit, write, write, write, repeat until done. Sounds easy, right? Whatever. It’s NOT easy, and that’s what makes completing a novel so worthwhile. The biggest thing to remember is that every writer approaches a project differently—some spend hours and hours “prepping the battlefield” with outlines, plot charts, character bio development, etc., and others don’t. The right way to do it, quite honestly, is what works for YOU.

2) Write the darn story. You’ve made the decision. You’re ready. You’ve done all your research, outlined, plotted, developed character trait charts, stuck spreadsheets/yellow sitckies/strings-and-tacks all over your plot wall (if you’re one of THOSE writers, which I’m not) and it’s time to sit down at the desk (or kitchen table, or on the couch, or outside if it’s summer, or outside in the winter if you’re a Yeti) or wherever you like to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and all you have in front of you is an uncharted expanse of BLANK.

It’s time to write your novel.

So. Are you done yet? No? You mean to tell me it’s been seven months, and you’re still stuck at the beginning? Well…

Set yourself a goal. Pick a completion date. If you’re lucky, and have a book under contract with a publisher, you’ve got a set delivery date. If you’re self-pubbing, you can set that date for yourself. At any rate, that target date is important (at least it is for me).

Some writers I know say things like, “I just HAVE to write! I can’t help myself! If I don’t get the words out of my head, I’ll go crazy! I have to write for my SANITY! HAHAHAHAHAhaha!” To which, I usually smile politely, and slowly back away. Not only does that sound like they're a prime candidate for suffering some sort of psychotic break, it’s not a problem I have, let me tell you. The words are in my head, but they can stay there, nice and quiet, behaving themselves, until I let them out … when I have the time set aside to do so. Anyway, the words don’t make me crazy, it’s all those damned voices. Wait, strike that. I’m fine. Really. Don’t tell.

So, you have a target date set. Good for you. Now, meet it.

Done yet? No, again? Well let’s talk word count.

In my chosen genre (and where I am in my writing career), 80K words is the “sweet spot” for novel length, so let’s use that for our discussion. To get to that ~80K final word count, figure out what a comfortable daily word count goal would be … for YOU. Personally, I’ve found 600 words-per-day is a comfortable pace. That’s ~133 days total to hit that 80K goal. 600 words is roughly two double-spaced manuscript pages (Times New Roman, 12pt font); doesn’t sound like much, does it? If you tackle that much, every day, day after day, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it adds up. Now, some people partake in “nanowrimo” (National Novel Writing Month, held in November every year) where they pump-out a min-50K novel in 30 days. That equates to (if my cipherin’ is correct) 1,666 words per day (a Satanic pace, kinda), every single day in November. I’ve never done nanowrimo, and more power to those who do and meet or exceed that goal, but it demonstrates how much you can get accomplished if you set your mind to it. And, quite simply, that’s the key; set your mind to it. Write every day, even if you don’t particularly want to. There’s an 80K-elephant in front of you, and you have to eat the whole thing … one bite at a time. Take some big bites, nibble a little here and there, but never stop eating that friggin’ pachyderm. *burp*

3) THE END…or is it? So, you’re done with the first draft. Congratulations! Walk away from it for a few days, leave it alone. Come back to it with a fresh set of eyes, and start cutting. You’ll catch a lot of errors/inconsistencies this way as you plod through the draft, but there are still some things you WON’T see because you’re too close to the project. This is where Beta readers come in handy. Find someone (or even better a few people) willing to give the draft a critical read. Listen to what they say, and be willing to make changes. For example, if they find a part of the story to be confusing, even though it makes perfect sense in your head, they’re probably right. It’s confusing. Suck it up, and change it. Revise, revise, revise…and then, on to the next step.

4) Get a scalpel. Read it line by line. Slowly. Look for punctuation errors, repeated words, misspellings…all those things that your reader WILL notice. Again, another set of eyes is crucial; either find a friend who is willing to give it a detailed read, or hire a copyeditor. This is painful, takes time, but in the end, it’s worth it. Like I said, your reader WILL notice the single misspelled word on page 378 that you glossed-over. Guaranteed.

Those are the four basic steps to anyone’s writing process, but there are still a couple of other things to consider.

Find a Place to Write. This is a biggie. Whether you can carve an office out of your home, or write in your recliner, or at the kitchen table, find a place where you can concentrate on your work. For me, now that two of our three kids are out of the house, I was able to convert one of the bedrooms upstairs into an office. It’s made a huge difference. Regardless, find a place relatively free of distractions, and get to work.

Find the Time to Write. Ah, time…the one thing we never seem to have enough of, right? If you’re a little-known author like myself who still has a “day job” and a mortgage, then your writing time may very well be late at night. Everyone has a different situation, with demands that pull them here and there throughout the day. If you want to write, though, you HAVE to find the time. It’s really that simple.

So what are you waiting for? Get to writing!