My Writing Process

Saturday, March 12, 2016
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?
. . . . .
CONNECT WITH ME!
     

62 comments :

  1. Oh my! I can't write that fast, and I take waaay long with editing, it's just horrible...plus, I get to the 'what a horrible story' stage about the day after I start. But I do get there in the end, and that's what matters.
    Wait...WHAT?! You don't have tons of ideas? I've got NOTEBOOKS FULL! What do you wake up in the middle of the night thinking? What do you do instead of dashing off at awkward moments mid-conversation to write something down? Nope, I just can't comprehend that. XD

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    1. I know the feeling. :P I'm thankful that I can write fast since I do dilly-dally with editing so much.

      I KNOW. IT'S SO WEIRD. AND SAD. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my story, other stories, and pizza. ;)

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    2. Oh that's sad...that's really sad. :)

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  2. I'm a plotter. I really am, although I am pantsing my Camp story next month. I have tons of ideas, but I try to think through them and see if they're actually workable.

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    1. Hopefully pantsing will go well for you! It'd be hard to make the change after being used to plotting. :P
      Are you writing a sequel or a new story for Camp?

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    2. New story, I'm editing the NaNo one and I don't think there's a sequal.

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  3. I was a pantser but I think I'm moving towards plantser because I do plan out some plot and character and world stuff, just not a lot of it. :P And I have a ton of story ideas except when I need them most. So. Yeah.
    I actually like editing because I get to rediscover all the places where I wrote prose I lovelovelove and I can fix all the places where I wrote stuff I don't like so much. And there's less uncertainty than in the first draft.

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    1. Yeah, I'm moving towards a plantser as well. :P

      Wow, someone who actually LIKES editing? Unheard of! xD I can't imagine ever liking it... but... maybe someday. Hopefully.

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  4. I used to be a pantser....until I realized that the reason it took me ages to finish a draft was because I was spending most of my time floundering around wondering what scene should come next. So I started plotting my whole novel, scene by scene, before I start writing. Things have gone much more smoothly since then.
    I don't really get fully formed story ideas. Mostly I get mini ideas, and then sometimes I get a few ideas that I think might match up, and that's when I have a story!

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    1. Scene by scene? Wow. How long does it take you to plot a story?

      *nod* That's what I mostly do for story ideas -- piece together snippets of things I've thought of. Pinterest and reading other books is how I get most of my ideas. :P

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  5. I don't get many story ideas. It has taken me a month to finally find a good idea for my next story! I feel you there, Katie. I am more of a plotter, but I don't like to take too much time. I find writing the first more fun if you have room to let your imagination take over (even if you have to edit it out later), but I still need some basic "guidelines" to follow!

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    1. I totally agree! I think it'd be nearly impossible to be a "true panster." Everyone needs some sort of guidelines. I just like to keep that to a minimum. :P

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  6. I am more of a planster..I start to plot, but I get so excited about writing my novel that I whiz through everything and forget all about the plotting stage anyway. :p It's terrible.
    OH MY GOODNESS, I am SOOO glad you said that you have problems with story ideas too! (actually, that sounded really rude..sorry) I have the exact same problem, and I admire the people who have their heads full of ideas. I have found a friend in this struggle. :D
    This post was soo helpful. Thanks a bunch!! :)
    ~Megan
    megans-journals.blogspot.com

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    1. AHHHH YAY YOU STRUGGLE WITH STORY IDEAS, TOO?! ... I mean, that's horrible. But, great... not. *sigh* xD

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  7. OH YES PROBLEMS WITH STORY IDEAS. It is so stinkin' hard for me to come up with a sound story idea. Plot is the hardest part. I'm sure there are so many delicious plotlines buried in the deep recesses of my brain . . . but they are rudely hiding themselves. Probably so they won't be written and then torn apart by edits. *sulks*

    Anyway, it was such fun hearing about your writing process! I can't wait to beta-read SotD! <3

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    1. Precisely. I think our BRAINS are even starting to revolt against us -- not just our novels. We writers must stick together to keep from becoming insane. ... if we aren't already. xD

      Eeep! Thank you! I'm excited for you too beta as well. :D (and really nervous. o.o But, excited. xD)

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  8. I don't really have a process, but 50K in two weeks would be nice.

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    1. Sometimes it's relaxing to not have a process and do it however you want. xD

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  9. haha, I'm definitely a panster. and that's typically a bad deal with me especially. *ahem* yeah... currently I'm working on a non-fiction book...and honestly, personally I think that's like ten times more easier for me to write than fiction, since I don't really have to MAKE the plot and it happened, so I have something to base the story on. idk. but that's probably just me.

    haha, skye said it perfectly. 50k words in two weeks would be woooonderful. HOW DO YOU DO IT? <3 I loved this post!

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    1. Oh my gosh you're working on a non-fiction book? o.O That's... so interesting. What are you writing about?

      I JUST... WRITE LIKE CRAZY. That's all I do and I *try* to stay focused. AND WORD WARS. They are just the most helpful thing ever.

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  10. I love your process! I do all those steps, just ... differently. (the break is so hard for me asdhfasdj)
    I've actually always thought of myself as a pantser, but I'm starting to accept that I'm a plantser, leaning towards plotter. I mean, I had over one hundred pages of notes on the computer alone before I started my current project. And I finished the last fifty pages of my journal, cramming it full of brainstormings.
    Yeah, I guess I'm more of a plotter. XP Although I like to say, "I know the gist of what's going to happen. I just don't know how."

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    1. Omg sometimes the break is hard because ALL I want to do is make my book perfect but I can't?? I KNOW THE FEEL.

      O.O WAIT. WAHT. 100... pages... of... notes... o.o Yeah, I'd say that you are a plotter. xD I can't even imagine doing more than a couple or so. Wow. That's just amazing.

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  11. UGH. I UNDERSTAND KATIE. When you finish something, you just stumble around waiting for an idea to smack you in the face...until it doesn't. And you about cry. Serously. :P at the moment, I have another idea after to his rewrite, I'm eversoglad I have one this time. XD Hahaa, I loved this post.

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    1. PRECISELY. Ahh, I'm so glad you have another idea. that's always such a relief. xD
      I have an idea for something I want to write for Camp in April, but when I'm done with that... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL WRITE. I guess I'll have three books to edit until I write something else, so that'll keep me busy. :P Yaaay.

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    2. I know, right? I finished my first novella last camp, and I was like wandering around wondering what to do with myself. LOL. I finally reread it a month later, and decided it needed a rewrite. So I'm turning the thing into a novel. XD
      I'm deciding if I shall bear down and do this rewrite for nano, or do my new story. #cantdecide
      boy...three books? *runs and hides* I feel for you. Maybe you'll find something to write about for camp, you have hope, right?!

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    3. DECISIONS, DECISIONS. *sigh* Well, thankfully there's always JULY Camp NaNo... so...

      I HAVE FOUND AN IDEA. I'm doing a little red riding hood contemporary retelling story thing and I'm much excited. *nodnod*

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    4. Yes, yes. I am looking forward to that more I think. Because, I shan't have to write AND do school. XD

      YESSSSSSSSSSSS. I sat myself down last night and just wrote a ton of idea out of "what could happen," it helped a lot. XD What is your goal for word count you are aiming for this camp?

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    5. *alllll the excitement* I mean, no school is great, but I'm going to be editing for July... so... *blergh* xD

      EEP YAS. I need to sit myself down and brainstorm more often because when I do it's soooo helpful.
      My goal's set at 80,000. I want to write 50-60k, and then do the rest for editing. (since an hour of editing is equal to 1k.) So technically I might have to do 30 hours of editing. o.o Which I won't try to think about... :P

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  12. I'm definitely a plantster, although I'm trying to make myself more of a plotter. I HATE OUTLINING BUT IT'S SO HELPFUL UGH I'M SO TORN.

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    1. OHMYGOSH I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. Plotting is so IMPORTANT but it takes so much THINKING and it's always more fun to just see where the story goes? That's why I do some plotting, but VERY minimal because.. ehhh. xD

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  13. I loved this post!
    I've mentioned before, I'm one of those writers with too many ideas...and I don't write super fast (I'd like to blame my typing speed but I probably shouldn't ). I think I'm a plotter.

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    1. Thank you! <3
      Arghhh, I'm so jealous of you. xD SHARE SOME OF YOUR GENIUS, PLEASE?! :P

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  14. Panster. Hands down. Literally, I have so many problems with my novel right now I'm just pushing them all to the side so I can finish the first draft. Because I'm a notoriously slow writer. :) Maybe like, 500-600 words a day? :P

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    1. 500-600 words a day isn't that slow. When I first started writing I averaged 300 words a day, so you're doing great. And that's about 15k a month! Your drafts probably come out cleaner than mine with how you take your time. xD

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  15. Oh, I'm a TOTAL pantser, and as much as I try, I can't get anywhere near to being a plotter. Unfortunately, it means tons of editing for anything I write, but I need practice. :D

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    1. That's the downside to pantsing... more editing. But writing is a whole lot more fun! xD

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  16. Huuuuge pantser here. What even is plotting? And your little bit of outlining for your novel is exactly 100% more than I've EVER done. Heh... heh... It might be a problem.

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    1. HA. xD I feel like if we tried to write a book together planning would be a disaster. :P

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  17. Wow, your writing process is very interesting! I'm just starting writing a novel so I'm not sure what I am. I am doing a bit of planning though, but probably about as much as you did for yours! ;)

    Whenever you have time if you could check out my other comment on your last post that would be
    awesome!

    Love your blog so much!

    Hannah

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    1. Exciting! Is this your first novel?

      Thank you for reminding me! I shall go do that. :P

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    2. Yes, it is! I'm very excited, but it's historical fiction so I'm trying to find facts and places to use in my book which can be a little hard. :)

      Thank you for looking at it! That was helpful! (=

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    3. Wow, I so admire historical fiction writers. I can't imagine all the research it takes. :P

      You're so welcome! Glad it was helpful. :)

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  18. Oh, I had so much fun reading through this! Seriously, I think this is my favorite of the posts I've read so far! :) And seriously, I have no idea how you write that much. That's crazy awesome! I think the most I ever wrote was one day during NaNo when I wrote around 3,000. Most of the time, though, I try to get between 500-1,500 words a day during the writing process. It depends on just how busy my day is. ;)
    I'm definitely a plotter! I like planning everything first! Except for the novel wrote during NaNo. I literally just wrote and had no idea where it was going. It drove me crazy! So now it's all getting re-written. ;)
    And I'm one of those people who have way to many story ideas. :P More then I'll ever have a chance to write down. xD

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    1. Aww, thank you! :D

      Wow, 3,000 is impressive. o.o Especially if you're a slower writing -- that's definitely an accomplishment.

      Ahh, rewrites. Good luck with that. They're just... horrible. P

      OOh, that's good. And bad. But good that you have choices with what to write for your next story. :D

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  19. This was an amazing post! I love seeing other writers' writing process. :)

    I'm a total and complete panster. Really, I could save myself a lot of tears (I'm on my eighth re-write of one book) if I just planned a little. But no...I just come up with ideas as I write. And, I'm one of those sad people who has way too many ideas. I have two folders on my computer..."Good Ideas" and "Bad Ideas." Each has about 15 different documents with random scenes, ideas, and up to 25,000 word sections. It's horrid. I wish I could stay focused on one story long enough to publish it. :)

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    1. Isn't it fun to see? :D

      EIGHT REWRITE. WOW. o.o That's impressive. xD
      Heh, I love your "good ideas" and "bad ideas" folder. I feel like most of my ideas would go in the latter section. xD

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  20. Plotter or pantser ... I dunno, it really depends on the story! With my FMS story (The Faerie's Revenge) I had a fair idea of the plot, but only in my head. Otherwise I just wrote it how I wished and mostly didn't plot too much.

    You've heard about it before, but I'm one of the writers who accidentally thinks up new story ideas really fast and then wishes she hadn't XD. Sometimes not being able to think of new ideas is a good thing.

    Ooo, the beta-reading is coming soon ... any idea which week you'll be asking for beta-readers?

    You wrote 50k in TWO WEEKS?! How ... how ... I can't even. The biggest word count I ever got to was 21k in one week, and that was MAJORLY hard :D. Cait must be absolutely crazy to get 50k done in FOUR DAYS.

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    1. *nod* That makes sense. I feel like a novella would be hard to pants - I'd start making it super long. xD Was it hard to keep it in the word limit?

      YOU NEED TO SHARE SOME OF THE IDEA-THINKING TALENT. o.o Please? ;)

      I KNOW. o.o I'm going to try it again this April and try to write a whole BOOK in two weeks. So I'm hoping that it won't turn out to be more than 50-60k. Otherwise I'm in huge trouble. xD
      She is crazy. o.O
      21k in a week is AMAZING. That's... a whole novella there. Impressive. :D

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    2. Well, as I edited my first draft of the novella (The Faerie's Revenge) it kept getting ... longer :D. But in the end it was 19,862 words, so I JUST made it XD.

      Uh ... you might not want my idea-getting ability :D. Seriously, once my sister and I were talking about jean pockets and laughing at the idea that maybe I could get a story idea from jean pockets and then ... I actually did. See? Weird XD.

      A WHOLE BOOK?! You totally need to tell us if you accomplish that, because that would be majorly cool. *nods*
      Oh, yeah, I guess it is about a full novella's amount of words ... I didn't even realize that :D.

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    3. Ooh, jean pockets? Interesting. xD It'd be cool to see what you make of that. :P

      YES I REALLY HOPE I CAN DO IT. I'll definitely post an update, probably. *nod*

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  21. I'm a planner but when I'm stuck I'm a pantser. And when I'm really, really stuck I just keep writing and re-writing plots but can't decide which one to take. Does anyone esle have this problem? :(

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    1. OH MY GOODNESS I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. When I'm stuck I'm like "ehh, what can I do that's horrible and will make everything harder for the characters?" So then I do that, but THEN I'm stuck trying to figure out how to get them OUT of the situation. *le sigh*

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  22. Just a note to tell you I have tagged you in the Liebster tag! More details on my blog! I hope you will do it!!
    Love,
    Paige

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    1. Ahh, thank you! I'll check it out and probably answer some questions in my giant tag post to come. xD

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  23. EEEEE I LOVE READING ABOUT OTHER WRITERS' WRITING PROCESSES. x) Also it must be amazing to not get a million ideas for a million different stories. like I really WISH I HAD THAT KIND OF A BRAIN. Because a bunch of plot bunnies creates chaos and a situation where all I want to do is wail and eat chocolate. (So you're lucky in other words. XD)

    Wow dude your handwriting is SO NEAT. O_O Like you should see my plotting notebooks because they are frightening. OR OR ACTUALLY I wouldn't even have to blur mine because my handwriting is so bad, nobody would be able to read it anyway. *wilts* XD omg I love how "Cait fast" is a thing... *insert cry laughing emojis* idk how she does it.

    KK I'M A PLOTTER ALL THE WAY which means that there is far less plot revision happening after the book is finished, but meh....editing seems perpetual anyway. XD IT'S JUST UNAVOIDABLE. I'm currently working on line editing a 150k word manuscript and let's just say that I'm hoping the word count shrinks a bit once I'm done with it. *cracks knuckles threateningly*

    this was awesome thank you for sharing ♥
    abbiee @ the music blog

    p.s. if you haven't heard the song "Sing it Out" by Switchfoot GO DO SO RIGHT NOWWWWW. It reminds me so much of TAN I could squeal. ^.^

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    1. ISN'T IT A SUPER FUN THING TO DO? I love seeing processes in general, cause EVERYONE does them differently.
      I'M LUCKY? WHAT? I'M BURDENED WITH A DESERT MIND WITH NOTHING BUT CATCUS'S AND WHERE ARE THE BUNNIES?! *weeps* Do share some. Please.

      HEH. My handwriting for, like, math is a different matter. I write neatly for plotting because my brain moves. sooo. slowlyyy. Like I'll take a minute to write two sentences worth because no ideas?! No character development ideas?! Blerp. xD

      OOH YOU'RE A PLOTTER? Very interesting. *nodnod* Omg, 150k?! That's... insane. My novel's 90k and I'm dying. Or quite possibly dead already. Not sure. But 150k WOULD kill me a thousand times or more.

      p.s. OH MY GOSH YES I HAVE HEARD THAT SONG IT just *totally* fits my novel. I get all squeal-y with that song and "Your Love is a Song." BOTH OF THEM ARE PERFECTION. <3
      (also it totally made me happy that you thought of that song and how it fit with my novel and ohmygawsh you're so thoughtful, Abbieeeeeeeee.)

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  24. We have a very similar writing process! The only difference is I love rewriting. That's really fun to me because my first drafts are yuck and rewriting makes it so much smoother. XD

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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

    Yes, I'm most definitely a pantser! When I first found out my love of writing, I honestly could not come up with a single story idea for at least 6 months or more. Sure, I came up with lots of scene ideas, but no story to attach them to. It was misery! Then, one day I was out laying on our trampoline, rain was gently sprinkling on my face and *BOOM* it hit me! My very first book idea! Since then, I've had lots of story ideas, as well as dialogue snippets and so forth. The key, I think to getting ideas of all sorts is being very observant, studying people/places/situations. Watching movies or listening to songs and going "Ack!! This would be a great idea for X Y Z..." It's a daily affair of looking at real life situations and then being able to put them into a story, and thinking; "How would my character(s) react to this situation?" or whatever. Inspiration is everywhere, you just gotta carry around a butterfly net and a bunny trap and trap'em! ;)

    Blessings -

    ~ Aspen

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