My Writing Process J Vincent

This month’s topic is “When you sit down to write, do you have a writing “process?”  Share!”

Writing process?  Hmmmm.  Process indicates a set of steps in my mind.  What steps do I follow when I write? And is this from beginning to end or just while actually writing the book?

If beginning to end, it’s basic steps:

• ·        Come up with your story idea.
• ·        Do the necessary research for setting, periods etc.
• ·        Plot
• ·        Write a first draft.
• ·        Edit
• ·        Edit again
• ·        Polish
• ·        Put it out there.

       But let’s presume the research etcetera has been completed and I have a chapter under my keyboard, so to speak.  The next day I sit down before my computer and I play one game each of Spider Solitaire, Free Cell, and Solitaire.  This “warms” up the mind and is my token “carrot.”  I can’t play more until after I finish writing for the day. That taken care of I’ll open the file containing what I wrote the day before.  It could be a scene or a chapter.  Regardless, I read through it, editing as I do so.  Then I look over any notes I’ve made about what is before or after that might be relevant. I may check my fact sheets on location, buildings, people, and incidents depending on what’s in the upcoming scene.

When that is all finished I start the next scene/chapter.

Simple but complex.  I’ve left out the happy dancing when the story is flowing very well and the banging my head against the keyboard times when it seems a dam has been built in my mind to stop the flow of the story. You never know when they’ll sneak in but they are part of the process. My writing days are variations on the above.  Life always has a way of impeding, provoking, hindering, and miraculously, sometimes helping.

What about you’re writing process?  I love to learn new ways to do things so, yes, share!