The Process

 



One of the most commonly asked questions of writers is "What is your process?" I'm never quite sure what is meant by this, and I've given all kinds of answers.  But after a lot of deliberation, I think it means: Tell me how you write a novel in 1000 words or less.  So, okay.  Here it is:

Ready, Set, Go

I don't work from an outline, but I never start a book without knowing four things:

1)The title. To me, the title represents the message, or theme, I'm writing about. A Flash of Shadow was delayed several weeks because, even though I knew the story, I did not know the title.  Once it finally came to me, everything else fell into place.  By contrast, Undefeatable was actually set in the previous book, Dead Man's Trail, when Raine Stockton said, "They are smarter than us, more determined than us, and they have nothing to lose. They are virtually undefeatable."  Who could resist that segue into a sequel?

2)The opening scene. Sometimes I actually see the words of the opening sentence in my head, and that's a bonus. But I never, ever start a book without knowing, in absolute detail, everything that happens in the opening scene.

3)The pivot point.  This is the crucial point in the book in which a character makes a decision, or something happens to the character, that determines the outcome of the story. This scene will become clearer the further I get into the story,  but by the time it is developed it's so vivid in my head that the book absolutely cannot be written without it.     

4)The ending.  Usually this is a scene, but it can also be a sentence, as in Undefeatable. The entire 90,000 word book was written for that one sentence.  How's that for a teaser?


Keep Your Eyes on the Road

When I am writing, that's what I do. When I'm in the middle of a book, I am at my desk from 12:30 to 4:00 PM every single day, six days a week, typing words. No holidays, no sick days, no vacations. As deadlines approach, I will often take a dinner break and go back to work until 8:00 or 9:00 PM.  When I am not at my desk typing words--and this is the important part--I am thinking about the book.  Walking the dogs: thinking.  Pushing a cart down the grocery aisle: thinking.  Sitting on the deck with a glass of wine: thinking, plotting, planning, developing the story in my head. Never skimp on the thinking part.

I write clean copy.  This means that when I send a chapter or a scene or the entire manuscript to a critique partner or an editor, it is exactly (minus typos and stupid errors) how I want it to appear in print. Obviously, if they have something to add that will enhance the book, yay, and I'm forever grateful. But if not, I'm okay.  I've thought it through in enough detail that I'm confident I've written the best book I can write.

And, oh, yeah-- before someone calls me out on the fact that I do occasionally go to lunch with a friend or have my hair done or attend a birthday party, I'll confess that schedule isn't written in stone. If I miss an hour or two at my desk, I make it up.  But I never forget what my job is: writing books. 


They're Alive!

More than once I've had a reader write to me, "I'm sobbing as I write this, having just read the scene where..." And I write back, "I know!  I know!" And I'm sobbing too.  I was sobbing when I wrote the scene because, well, if I didn't feel it, you wouldn't feel it.  The reason I feel it is because my characters are alive, living and breathing in their own universe, and what happens to them, happens to me. I don't create them.  They create themselves.  I sometimes guide them along to make sure they act consistently and make the right choices, but in the end, they tell the story.  Their voices are constant background chatter in my head.  Their story is my story. When I am deep into the writing of a book, it isn't  unusual for my daily to-do list to look something like this:

*Take Dog to Groomer

*Get DNA to Lab

*Call Plumber

* Run Fingerprints

*Order Coffee Filters

*Background check on suspect

Just FYI, I do not  regularly do background checks or run fingerprints, but my characters do. And when I'm in writing mode, the line of demarcation between their lives and mine is so blurred as to be almost non-existent.  As it should be.

And There You Have It

So that's my process (in slightly more than 1000 words; oops).  A little weird, maybe, probably somewhat extreme and definitely not recommended for the hobbyist, but it's how I get things done. What about you?  Any writers out there who'd like to share?  


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