Saturday, January 10, 2015

My writing process....

People ask me about my writing process and my answer always sounds kind of obvious. I just write. I don't have any rituals that I go through before starting. No special mug filled with Earl Grey tea brewed at a perfect 180 degrees. No certain chair adjusted to exactly twenty inches. The shades don't have to be drawn halfway, and it doesn't matter if my desk is clean or messy (which is a good thing because it's usually messy!)

I just write. I sit in my cat-hair covered chair, at my messy desk, turn on my computer, open up my Word document, and write (or type, as the case may be.) I don't worry about word count or chapter length or number of chapters. I don't stress out if one paragraph is longer than another. I tell my story, the way that I want to tell it. Want to know why? Because that's what makes it mine. It comes from me, deep down in my authentic self. It's a story that I choose to share with my readers, a story that hopefully they will love as much as I do. But I write it for me.

That's not to say that I don't wonder how a certain scene will be received. Will readers love that I disfigured a main character, killed a puppy, or let the bad guy off the hook? Probably not. (Just to be clear, I've never written any of those things...yet. **evil grin**) But I have to write what I feel; what I think the story needs to move forward.

So my advice to you, whether you are a new author getting ready to type your first word, or a seasoned pro who has already published a gazillion books; just write. Write what you love, what you feel in your soul.

That's what makes a great story!

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