The Process
The Writer At Work
Someone asked me what my process is for writing. My answer: it’s a hard slog, a job, a compulsion and something that can cause extremes on both sides of the emotional scale. I think what they really meant is: what is your ritual?
In thinking about the ritual, I have to decide whether to start at the ‘finding ideas’ stage, or the writing stage . . . hmmmmm. The finding ideas stage is so variable that I think I’ll leave that one (it can be as simple as opening the dictionary to find words (last time, one from each letter) and writing about that word – 26 draft ideas in one hit!), and go on to the writerly routine and process.
Get out of bed. I used to do this at 0500, but now it’s 0600 (I’ve finally learned to sleep in!!!!). One cup of black tea, take the dog outside while the computer warms up and goes through the things it needs to go through. Drink tea and make sure dog is inside (can’t forget, especially when it’s so cold outside).
Go through the admin things – emails, sites and updates, short responses, quick readthroughs – nothing dramatic, this is not work, it is administration. Rule for admin: if it can wait, let it; if it can’t wait, do it within the timeframe allowed (
If it’s a day to do the WP (this blog thing) have a look at what’s there and write to the min. allowable words for the post (I never plan these posts, so you get it raw – I should plan them, everyone tells me I should plan them, but I don’t). Write it, find a picture (bit rough on the appropriateness of these things sometimes) and press publish (and copy the post to the 06 blog folder – yes, I have folders and subfolders for every task in my life, especially my main job of writing). Done.
Another cup of black tea, sit at the computer, open the daily work sheet schedule, find the marker, open the document/s (usually one is the secondary research notes and the other is the ‘work’) and re-read the notes from the previous day – read the schedule for this day.
Hum – a lot; mash the ideas and words together with the characters for the day – put them in their positions and get the voices warmed up and warbling.
Write – complete at least one scene or one chapter (a scene sequence) or one section (if I haven’t yet got scenes/sequences/chapters sorted).
Have breakfast (usually 0900) and coffee (!!!!!!! with full cream!!!!!!! – but only one – sigh). Sit down and enjoy breakfast and coffee – the brain is doing cartwheels and spinning out the threads of story in my head, so I watch and listen and eat.
Back to work – write until [bum is sore] 1100 – get up and walk around, take dog outside (have I mentioned the walk yet? It’s in there somewhere, depending on the weather – but the walk also involves the same mind-whirls as breakfast, so it’s still work).
Back to work – write and write until either: stomach growls for sustenance (that’s usually about 1500-1600); eat, feed the dog, take the dog outside. Check mail, etc.
Back to work. Sometimes, I work late, especially if something is due for publication, if pictures are involved, or the obsession is too hard to fight.
Sleep, dream of how the story could be better, how the characters need to do this, that, the other!
***
Now for the story process: The idea document/s are all in one folder. Some of them sing to me in dreams and thoughts and won’t let go until I do something with their words (see musae problem).
My story process is a cycle, so we’ll step into the cycle as if I didn’t have concurrent works in progress. Here:
Find a piece of idea (you saw that earlier) and play it out into an outline or brief ‘idea-line’ or character chat. Spend one day on writing up the focal moments, the focal characters, the ‘world’ and the world structures (politics included – yeccht!!).
Write a full outline (sometimes it includes scenes, sometimes not), fit it to the characters and the world and the theme. Write a full first draft – beginning to end, or scene by scene, or however it gets done. Usually, this takes one to two days (it is a first draft, and I might end up doing three or four first drafts so I don’t worry about too much – just get it done).
Put the story to bed for a while, let it sleep and grow and dream and expand.
Start on the next ‘idea’ for a story. Do the same. Finish the first draft, put it to bed.
Pick up the previous story – re-read with a fresh mind, and write the story.
And then there’s the editing process (still working on improving this – need to save some time in there somewhere, but for the moment – it is what it is). I have done up to seven separate edits on one story (arcs, high/low points, flow, etc – you could see more of the editing process from my ‘writerly notes’ – oh, which have now disappeared [bloody technology!]. Should I put them back? Let me know.), but it saves those ‘forgetful’ moments to concentrate on one area per edit. I do separate edits for specific items (character/s and arcs, plot/conflict – within characters and arcs , etc. etc.). And the very last edit is proofreading – I don’t see the point in proofreading until the story is ‘just right’!
There. Done.
If I don’t get too many distractions or tough moments (that’s life, they say), I can write a story from idea to completion in two months (not consecutive, but total).
My plan for the next five years: write five novels a year [leave two months to ‘grow’ some ideas], and see just how good/bad it gets!
Care to join me on the ride? I’d love your company.
Time spent on this piece of admin: 14 mins – must improve!
And a PS – back up all the time – the only reason this is still here after a ‘crash’ [bloody technology!] is because I do a backup as I work.
