Want To Know What My Writing Process Is Like? It's Not Exactly What You Would Think.....

We all know that there are Intuitive writers and Plotter writers...well....for a long time I considered myself quite the intuitive writer, and would still say that I lean more towards that side of the spectrum.

So there is not really a step by step process that I follow but having written and published (soon to be 2 novels) and going to be working on book 3 with no plans to stop anytime soon, I still have no idea what I'm doing.

Yep, imposter syndrome is well known around these parts.

But don't worry, we try not to listen to that here.

Instead we just kinda do what we want and try to figure out if it works or not. That's pretty much the bases of it right there - do I like it when I do this method? Does it work when I try this? What if I did this instead of that? It's as simple as if I can't afford it or I don't like it, then don't waste the time doing the thing/method/process.

All that's needed to break imposter syndrome is logic and objective truth....to bad I never seem to have that when I need it. There's always going to be comparison (especially when it comes to making a living off of writing), but just because someone else is successful doesn't take away from your potential.

So what does the writing process look like for me?

Glad you asked.

For me, it starts with some scenes, popping up in my mind. This is different than inspiration for me because inspiration can be something as simple as where the werewolf scar is on a characters body. This is more like I'll have the very very beginning of where I think the book should start as well as something plot significant or the climax scene, and sometimes the resolution scene into the next book.

So now that I have these "previews" of the book, I'll try to document them in a file I can reference to later. And then when I'm ready I'll make a rough and I mean super rough outline of where these "previews" should go in the story.

Then this is where the intuitive writer comes out, I'll start a new document, have my first scene down, then try to write down whatever comes to my head that would make the other scenes connect. Sometimes I'll start multiple copies of the draft until it feels right. Then I go back to my outline, and update. I try to do what feels "correct" when I write my books, I'll know when it's not "correct" when the story stops flowing easily to me. It's a lot of back and forth between writing down scenes and making notes in the outline.

Now of course during this time I'll develop a rough idea of what I want the cover to look like and then I get ready to do the blurb before I go back to edit it. Then when I think it's ready, I'll let people read it, and I'll fix something major if need be, but if it's something that is super important later on, then I try to make it better based on feed back. If I can afford it I try to get a professional editor to look over it.

Then the process starts over again.

I don't have a hard and fast set in stone schedule and I do allow room for lots of flexibility as this isn't my full time job yet. But hoping one day it will be, and when it is, I'll be sure try and do a week in the life of an indie author.

Until then, stay tuned for next week when I reveal the cover of Book 2.

What is your writing process like? Feel free to let me know that this blog has reached some eyes by connecting over instagram or commenting down below.

<3's

Credit: Let the Forest Rain Help You Sleep | Stress Relief & Deep Rest from The Raining Room on YouTube.