My Writing Process

A couple people have mentioned wanting to learn more about my whole writing process. (A horrible mistake, really.) Basically, it's a mess and I have no idea what I'm doing. But so far I've survived (though my character's lives are a different story...), so I'll share it with you. :P

I'm going to be completely honest with you: I don't get many story ideas. THIS IS VERY HARD TO DEAL WITH. Writers all around me talk about how they have "wayyyy too many plot bunnies attacking" and get "super distracted with all the story ideas." 

I... don't know how that feels like. *sniff* Sometimes I fear that I'm just going to run out of ideas someday--that I can't write because I don't know what to write about. So when I finally get an idea, I run with it, which leads me to the next phase.

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Ever heard the terms Plotter + Pantser? If you haven't, here's what they mean:

PLOTTER: someone who plans out their novel before they write it.

PANTSER: someone who, “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don’t plan out anything, or plan very little.

If you're somewhere in the middle, you're a PLANTSER, though you probably lean more to one side than the other. 

I consider myself a pantser. I really don't like plotting. This is how much I outlined before I wrote The Sand Dragon's Song:

it's purposefully blurry cause SPOILERS

...what I brainstormed above is actually more than I'm used to, but I'm trying to get myself to plot more so I can save time on editing. :P

Since brainstorming goes so quickly, I only need a week or so for this stage. And a weird writing quirk of mine -- I only brainstorm on paper. I find that my creativity and ideas come easier that way, and I don't get as distracted with the internet. :P 

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THIS STAGE IS SO MUCH FUN! I love the writing stage because...

a) WRITING!

b) It will be terrible and that's okay. 

c) so many Word Wars and Sprints with friends.

d) it's fast.
e) late night writing sessions. <3 

I write fast. Not Cait fast(50k in four days, wut?), but I write 50k in two weeks fast. So if all goes well, I finish a draft in a month. Though... the draft is a mess. Characters seem the same. Typos galore. What's a... plot??

The first draft is all fine and dandy until I end it. Then I start hating and dreading my novel, because the next step is editing. *cries*

(I documented my NaNoWriMo journey each week last November which gives more insight into  my crazy first draft writing.)

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This is probably the easiest stage. I like to try to set aside my novel for at least a month before editing. This gives me time to ponder it, realize that it's all cliched, and days for crying when I figure out that it all needs to be rewritten. This has happened.

Sometimes I use this month for reading. Sometimes I'll plan out an editing strategy. Sometimes I just take the whole month to hibernate or see how much pizza I can eat. You never really know with me.

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I don't like editing.

(wow, didn't see that one coming, did you?)

And of course the stage I dislike the most has to take the longest. Since the editing stage is so stinking long, I'll divide it up into a few sections.

My first novel I ever wrote I ended up rewriting all of it. The second novel I wrote (Song of the Desert), I rewrote 68%. (I actually have no idea if that's accurate, but it's something along those lines.) I'm fairly certain that I'll have to rewrite most if not all of The Sand Dragon's Song when I start editing. Ack.

Rewriting is my least favorite part of editing. Because I can't insanely write 50k in two weeks. The rewrites wouldn't come out any better than the first draft. So I'm forced to take my time with rewrites. And I don't like taking my time. I use my "editing survival guide" most often with this step. *wink*

 

As I'm rewriting I keep a list of things I have to fix. "Mention this character. Add in a scene with the unicorns. More pizza," and so on. The "scene revision" stage is where I tweak plot things. Sometimes big, sometimes little. I'm not editing sentences and how they sound; I'm just trying to get the plot to a manageable, workable place.

IF I ever finish rewriting,  I must note that I sometimes go over the "scene revision" 2-3 times until I can get the plot right. My plot never likes me, so it takes awhile. :P

Of all the different types of editing, line editing is one of my favorites, because IF I've made it to this stage, chances are that my novel's finally starting to be okay. 

Line editing is also awesome because I love making things sound pretty. I love making the words and sentences flow together. I love making it so that the writing's easy to read and readers can easily lose themselves in the story. (I mean, that's the goal.)

Also, fun fact... Only when I get to the line edit stage (4th draft or so) is when I actually have chapters in my novel. I try to add in chapters with the previous steps, but I end up forgetting. :P

Editing can go on forever. I find more and more scenes to fix. Plot holes arise. Typos never seem to end. I read over my chapters again and again. 

Then... when I gather enough confidence, I send chapters to my critique partner. I make her very wise changes. And EVENTUALLY I ask for beta readers and shove it in their face. That last part may just happen in a few weeks and I'm kind of freaking out. xD

And AFTER beta readers... I'm honestly not sure what's going to happen. I know that I'll go over their suggestions, make changes, etc... But then? I'll have to figure that out. :P 

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// Katie Grace

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Are you one of those writers who has lots of story ideas... or no?

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CONNECT WITH ME!