Michelle C. Hillstrom's Blog, page 13
August 14, 2013
The Writing Process
I don't know how other authors write or what their writing process is like, but for me a lot of it happens during the editing and revision process.
It starts with a dream or a random idea that I have which I decide that I must write down. Then that idea gets expanded upon until I have no more to write for that day. Later, (days, weeks, months, whatever the case may be) I come back and edit and revise what I previoiusly wrote. In this process I usually begin adding little things here and there to the old version of the manuscript. I some cases the muse strikes and I begin to write long paragraphs. It is not necessarily directly connected to the writing that is already in place. Sometimes what I write I am not always sure of exactly where in the story it will be used or if it will even make the final manuscript. However, as a writer, there is a desperate need to write when the muses demand it be so.
In my case this is often at the most inoportune times, like the shower. One time I was at IHOP with my family and had to write on IHOP napkins. (This is where the Prologue for The Possessive Kiss was developed).
It starts with a dream or a random idea that I have which I decide that I must write down. Then that idea gets expanded upon until I have no more to write for that day. Later, (days, weeks, months, whatever the case may be) I come back and edit and revise what I previoiusly wrote. In this process I usually begin adding little things here and there to the old version of the manuscript. I some cases the muse strikes and I begin to write long paragraphs. It is not necessarily directly connected to the writing that is already in place. Sometimes what I write I am not always sure of exactly where in the story it will be used or if it will even make the final manuscript. However, as a writer, there is a desperate need to write when the muses demand it be so.
In my case this is often at the most inoportune times, like the shower. One time I was at IHOP with my family and had to write on IHOP napkins. (This is where the Prologue for The Possessive Kiss was developed).
I Write
I write to unwind.
I write to entertain.
I write for pleasure.
I write in pain.
I write the stories of my heart.
I write to strengthen my brain.
I write to live and live to write.
I write, hopefully, not in vain.
Who is Michelle C. Hillstrom?
Name: Michelle Christine Hillstrom
Occupation: author
Nickname: Shellie, Shellbell, or Mishie
Birthday: September 1
From: Texas
Pets: two dogs, Shiner and Cooper. Shiner is a black lab mix and Cooper is a yellow lab mix
Status: Happily single. I find that I write better when I am unattached. (weird considering I write 'romance' novels.)
Children: I would love to have a little boy and a little girl someday. I think I would make a great mom. I would love to have the financial freedom to be a stay at home mom while the children are young.
Religion: Christian, but I find all religions interesting and I do not judge people based upon their faith, so I ask that people do not judge based upon mine.
Little Bit About Me: I Love God, my family, my friends, and my dogs. I am a hopeless romantic, despite everything that has happened that should make me feel otherwise. Procrastinator and Indecisive should my my middle names. I am a Texan in every sense of the word. History, and psychology fascinate me. Fast cars and big trucks are an obsession. Cooking and writing are two of my mad skills. I have made two huge mistakes in my life and they were both made for unrequited love, so yes... If I love you I will do anything for you, but I am learning how to make better decisions about who I love. Someday I will finish school, hopefully in the next two years and then hopefully I will get a teaching position. One day I would like to get married and have kids and be a stay at home mom, but for now I just want to concentrate on myself and check everything off my to do list. See the world, lose weight, meet a nice guy, finish writing my novels, learn to ballroom or belly dance, see Taylor Swift in concert, finish reading the Bible, etc, etc. Taking it one day at a time and that's the way I like it!
Favorite books: Gone With the Wind, Scarlet, Memoirs of Cleopatra, The Poisonwood Bible, Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, The Hollows, Harry Potter, anything by Nora Roberts or Nicholas Sparks... really there are just too, too many to list.
Favorite Movies: Twilight Saga, Gone With the Wind, The Notebook, Mean Girls, Pretty Woman, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Scarface, Fast and Furious movies, Titanic, anything from Disney or Pixar, The Craft, Bride Wars, Night at the Museum, Letters to Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Eight Below, Second Hand Lions, The Phantom of the Opera, P.S. I Love you, Zombieland, Warm Bodies, Beautiful Creatures, The Hunger Games, again there are just too many to list.
Favorite Music: Aaron Lewis, AC/DC, Active Child, Adam Lambert, Adele, Aerosmith, The Airborne Toxic Event, Akon, Alabama, Alan Jackson, The Album Leaf, Ali Dee, Alice in Chains, The All American Rejects, Alkaline Trio, Amy Studt, Andre Previn, Aqua, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Avril Lavigne, The Band Perry, Beastie Boys, The Beatles, The Belle Brigade, Billy Currington, Billy Idol, The Black Eyed Peas, The Black Keys, Blaine Larsen, Blake Shelton, Bleu Edmonton, Blink 182, Blue October, Bob Dylan, Bone-thugs-n-harmony, Boston, Bowling for Soup, Boys Like Girls, Brad Paisley, Brandon Rhyder, Brantley Gilbert, The Bravery, Breaking Benjamin, Brinn Black, Bruno Mars, Buckcherry, Buddy Holly, Bullet For My ValentineCarly Rae Jepsen, Carrie Underwood, Calvary Kids, Carolina Liar, Casey Donahew Band, CAsey James, Chingy, Chevelle, Chris Cagle, Christina Perri, Coldplay, Coolio, Corey Smith, Cowboy Crush, Craig Morgan, The Crickets, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Crossfade, DAughtry, Diamond Rio, Dirks Bentley, Disturbed, Dixie Chicks, The Doors, Dr. Dre, The Eagles, Edens Edge, Editors, Elbow, The Eli Young Band, Elisa, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John, Emerson Drive, Eminem, Eric Church, Fall Out Boys, Finger Eleven, Fleetwood Mac, Flo Rida, Florida Georgia Line, Foo Fighters, Foreigner, Framing Henley, Frank Sinatra, The Fray, Garth Brooks, Gary Allen, George Strait, Gloriana, God Smack, Good Charlotte, Gretchen Wilson, Gucci Mane, Guns N Roses, Hawthorne Heights, Hell Yeah, Hinder, Hoobastank, Howie Day, Hunter Hayes, Icona Pop, Incubus, Iron & Wine, J. Holiday, Jack Ingram, Jack Johnson, Jason Aldean, Jay-Z, John Michael Montgomer, Johnny Cash, Josh Abbott Band, Josh Turner, Journey, Judy Collins, Justin Moore, Justin Timberlake, Kathleen Edwards, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Kenny Chesney, Kid Rock, The Killers, Kiss, Korn, Lady Antebellum, Led Zepplin, Lee Brice, Lee Dewyze, Linkin Park, Little Big Town, Lonestar, Love and Theft, Ludacris, Luke Bryan, The Lumineer, Lynard Skynard, Mads Langer, Maroon 5, Marina McBride, Matt Kearney, Matt Nathanson, Meredith Brooks, Metallica, Metric, Miranda Lambert, The Misfits, Modest Mouse, Montgomery Gentry, Mumford & Sons, My Chemical Romance, Neil Diamond, Nelly, Nickelback, Nirvana, The Offspring, Old Crow Medicine Show, One Republic, P!nk, Panic! at the Disco, Papa Roach, Pat Green, Pearl Jam, Perfume Genius, Placebo, Pink Floyd, Plumb, The Pogues, The Police, The Proclaimers, Puddle of Mud, Pussycat Dolls, The Raconteurs, Radiohead, The Randy Rogers, Band, Randy Travis, Rascal Flatts, REckless Kelly, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Refused, Robin Thicke, The Rolling Stones, Ronnie Eaton, Saliva, Samson Francois, Sara Bareilles, Sara Evans, Savage, Saving Abel, Sawyer Brown, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Secondhand Serenade, Seether, Simple Plan, Skillet, Sky Eats Airplane, Slipknot, Smashmouth, Snoop Dogg, Steve Miller Band, Sunny Sweeney, System of a Down, Taking Back Sunday, Taylor Swift, Theory of a Deadman, Three 6 Mafia, Three Days Grace, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Weezer, Wes Hayden, Willie Nelson, Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top
Favorite Quotes:
~Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love. ~Butch Hancock
~“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~“In love, it is better to know and be disappointed, than to not know and always wonder.”
~"Do two walk together if they have not met?" Amos 3:3
~I believe that forgiveness is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting. - General Norman Schwarzkopf
~"Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses." Proverbs 10:12
~A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it when my memory fails. ~ Donna Roberts
~Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. ~Henry Van Dyke
~Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word.- John Steinbeck
~"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23
~When the pain in your heart seems too much to bear just ask The Lord and he will be there. - Michelle Hillstrom
~Time to turn some phrases and place them on these here pages. - Michelle Hillstrom
Occupation: author
Nickname: Shellie, Shellbell, or Mishie
Birthday: September 1
From: Texas
Pets: two dogs, Shiner and Cooper. Shiner is a black lab mix and Cooper is a yellow lab mix
Status: Happily single. I find that I write better when I am unattached. (weird considering I write 'romance' novels.)
Children: I would love to have a little boy and a little girl someday. I think I would make a great mom. I would love to have the financial freedom to be a stay at home mom while the children are young.
Religion: Christian, but I find all religions interesting and I do not judge people based upon their faith, so I ask that people do not judge based upon mine.
Little Bit About Me: I Love God, my family, my friends, and my dogs. I am a hopeless romantic, despite everything that has happened that should make me feel otherwise. Procrastinator and Indecisive should my my middle names. I am a Texan in every sense of the word. History, and psychology fascinate me. Fast cars and big trucks are an obsession. Cooking and writing are two of my mad skills. I have made two huge mistakes in my life and they were both made for unrequited love, so yes... If I love you I will do anything for you, but I am learning how to make better decisions about who I love. Someday I will finish school, hopefully in the next two years and then hopefully I will get a teaching position. One day I would like to get married and have kids and be a stay at home mom, but for now I just want to concentrate on myself and check everything off my to do list. See the world, lose weight, meet a nice guy, finish writing my novels, learn to ballroom or belly dance, see Taylor Swift in concert, finish reading the Bible, etc, etc. Taking it one day at a time and that's the way I like it!
Favorite books: Gone With the Wind, Scarlet, Memoirs of Cleopatra, The Poisonwood Bible, Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, The Hollows, Harry Potter, anything by Nora Roberts or Nicholas Sparks... really there are just too, too many to list.
Favorite Movies: Twilight Saga, Gone With the Wind, The Notebook, Mean Girls, Pretty Woman, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Scarface, Fast and Furious movies, Titanic, anything from Disney or Pixar, The Craft, Bride Wars, Night at the Museum, Letters to Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Eight Below, Second Hand Lions, The Phantom of the Opera, P.S. I Love you, Zombieland, Warm Bodies, Beautiful Creatures, The Hunger Games, again there are just too many to list.
Favorite Music: Aaron Lewis, AC/DC, Active Child, Adam Lambert, Adele, Aerosmith, The Airborne Toxic Event, Akon, Alabama, Alan Jackson, The Album Leaf, Ali Dee, Alice in Chains, The All American Rejects, Alkaline Trio, Amy Studt, Andre Previn, Aqua, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Avril Lavigne, The Band Perry, Beastie Boys, The Beatles, The Belle Brigade, Billy Currington, Billy Idol, The Black Eyed Peas, The Black Keys, Blaine Larsen, Blake Shelton, Bleu Edmonton, Blink 182, Blue October, Bob Dylan, Bone-thugs-n-harmony, Boston, Bowling for Soup, Boys Like Girls, Brad Paisley, Brandon Rhyder, Brantley Gilbert, The Bravery, Breaking Benjamin, Brinn Black, Bruno Mars, Buckcherry, Buddy Holly, Bullet For My ValentineCarly Rae Jepsen, Carrie Underwood, Calvary Kids, Carolina Liar, Casey Donahew Band, CAsey James, Chingy, Chevelle, Chris Cagle, Christina Perri, Coldplay, Coolio, Corey Smith, Cowboy Crush, Craig Morgan, The Crickets, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Crossfade, DAughtry, Diamond Rio, Dirks Bentley, Disturbed, Dixie Chicks, The Doors, Dr. Dre, The Eagles, Edens Edge, Editors, Elbow, The Eli Young Band, Elisa, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John, Emerson Drive, Eminem, Eric Church, Fall Out Boys, Finger Eleven, Fleetwood Mac, Flo Rida, Florida Georgia Line, Foo Fighters, Foreigner, Framing Henley, Frank Sinatra, The Fray, Garth Brooks, Gary Allen, George Strait, Gloriana, God Smack, Good Charlotte, Gretchen Wilson, Gucci Mane, Guns N Roses, Hawthorne Heights, Hell Yeah, Hinder, Hoobastank, Howie Day, Hunter Hayes, Icona Pop, Incubus, Iron & Wine, J. Holiday, Jack Ingram, Jack Johnson, Jason Aldean, Jay-Z, John Michael Montgomer, Johnny Cash, Josh Abbott Band, Josh Turner, Journey, Judy Collins, Justin Moore, Justin Timberlake, Kathleen Edwards, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Kenny Chesney, Kid Rock, The Killers, Kiss, Korn, Lady Antebellum, Led Zepplin, Lee Brice, Lee Dewyze, Linkin Park, Little Big Town, Lonestar, Love and Theft, Ludacris, Luke Bryan, The Lumineer, Lynard Skynard, Mads Langer, Maroon 5, Marina McBride, Matt Kearney, Matt Nathanson, Meredith Brooks, Metallica, Metric, Miranda Lambert, The Misfits, Modest Mouse, Montgomery Gentry, Mumford & Sons, My Chemical Romance, Neil Diamond, Nelly, Nickelback, Nirvana, The Offspring, Old Crow Medicine Show, One Republic, P!nk, Panic! at the Disco, Papa Roach, Pat Green, Pearl Jam, Perfume Genius, Placebo, Pink Floyd, Plumb, The Pogues, The Police, The Proclaimers, Puddle of Mud, Pussycat Dolls, The Raconteurs, Radiohead, The Randy Rogers, Band, Randy Travis, Rascal Flatts, REckless Kelly, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Refused, Robin Thicke, The Rolling Stones, Ronnie Eaton, Saliva, Samson Francois, Sara Bareilles, Sara Evans, Savage, Saving Abel, Sawyer Brown, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Secondhand Serenade, Seether, Simple Plan, Skillet, Sky Eats Airplane, Slipknot, Smashmouth, Snoop Dogg, Steve Miller Band, Sunny Sweeney, System of a Down, Taking Back Sunday, Taylor Swift, Theory of a Deadman, Three 6 Mafia, Three Days Grace, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Weezer, Wes Hayden, Willie Nelson, Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top
Favorite Quotes:
~Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love. ~Butch Hancock
~“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~“In love, it is better to know and be disappointed, than to not know and always wonder.”
~"Do two walk together if they have not met?" Amos 3:3
~I believe that forgiveness is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting. - General Norman Schwarzkopf
~"Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses." Proverbs 10:12
~A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it when my memory fails. ~ Donna Roberts
~Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. ~Henry Van Dyke
~Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word.- John Steinbeck
~"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23
~When the pain in your heart seems too much to bear just ask The Lord and he will be there. - Michelle Hillstrom
~Time to turn some phrases and place them on these here pages. - Michelle Hillstrom
