I recieved an interesting question from a reader this week about my writing process:
“How on earth do you create these stories? I’ve read your blog and info etc on some of your processes i.e. how you don’t see scenes as many others do etc, but that just makes me wonder all the more. Do you figure out the plots and then fill in the conversations etc?”
So, I thought I’d answer both in words, and with some beautiful, skillful, impressive illustrations.
Without further ado…my writing process. In words and pictures.
Step 1) I always imagine my step one should be me envisioning an amazing story with complex characters and interesting themes that resonate with the human condition.
Step 1
Real Step 1) What I really get is a snippet of a scene with a character. Often it’s dialogue, but it might be just an image or an emotion.
Real Step 1
Now I have to figure out who that character really is and what happened to get them to that scene in the Grand Masterpiece
So I spend a good amount of time plotting it out, it all looks like it’s going to work and then…
Step 2) I write out the story.
Step 2
(No, not by hand. Unless I’m REALLY struggling. Then the old pen in hand connection actually does help…)
The dialogue is by far the easiest, followed by setting description. The hardest parts involve the narrative parts of getting characters where they need to go without too many, “Dick and Jane went there. Then there.”
And the single worst part is describing those characters physically. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t see pictures of them in my head. I feel emotions and motivation for them, wrapped in a nebulous tall or short cloud. That’s it. I am forever forgetting what color hair my characters have, and it’s painful to put in physical descriptions of them.
Just imagine them however you want, people!
But my early readers always seem to want to know what these characters look like. #weird
Step 3) As the story gets going I get the haunting suspicion I’m missing that Grand Masterpiece mark from Step 1. By a really long way.
Step 3
This suspicion always turns out to be true.
I have always missed it.
By a really long way.
Step 4) Ponder
Step 5) Get glimpses of what’s missing. Discover new depths to characters and relationships.
Edit.
Always in orange pen, because it’s still easily visible, but less judgey than red.
Step 6) Repeat steps 5-6 ad nauseam
Step 4. And 5. And 6.
Over and Over.
Step 7) Get real editor to edit and beta readers to make sure I didn’t break the thing entirely. Edit again based on their responses.
Step 7 (yes, it looks identical step 2. Give me a break, I’m not an artist.)
Step 8) Publish. Wondering if the final work has anything even remotely resembling the first Grand Masterpiece idea.
Step 8.
So there you have it! My writing process in words and pictures.
You can see that I won’t be illustrating any of my own books in the future. But this little project does lead me to my Google of the Week.
The funnest thing I googled was, “Stick Figure Facial Expressions.”
Thank you, dear internet, for always providing answers.
Is my writing process as glamorous as you’d expected?
I’m sure it was,
Nothing says sophistication like a stick figure.
I’d love to hear what you think of my writing procses, my glorious artwork, or anything else on your mind. It’s quite motivational when stuck in Steps 2-7, as I am now, to hear from people who care whether Step 8 will ever happen.
