The Writing Process

There is a lot of work that goes into writing a book. Like, what the heck? Who knew?? When I was just starting out, I did a lot of googling before I officially wrote my first word. I wanted to find out what other’s writing process was to see if it might help me form mine. What I found was that there is so much advice out there and it can be extremely overwhelming. At the end of the day, everyone is going to come up with their own way of doing things. While the advice I read sometimes seemed ridiculous or unfitting, it did help me develop my own process and I thought I’d share it with you.

Planner, Pantser, or Plantser?

Planner – Someone who plans out pretty much every aspect of the book. The story will be outlined, character arcs will be written, and you’ll know your story front to back before you even start writing.

Pantser – Someone who makes everything up on the fly. That’s not to say that you don’t have an idea where the story is going, but there’s no outline. You basically go where the story takes you.

Plantser – A combination of the two above.

So, which one are you? I started out as a planner. I’m a planner by nature, so it made sense to write the book this way. With “Forgotten Monsters” I first wrote a few paragraphs to outline the story. Then, I assigned certain plot points for each chapter, which helped me figure out the pacing. As someone just starting out, I found this to be helpful. It kept me on track and it kept me from feeling overwhelmed with the process. I knew where I was going and I could rest assured that the plot would tie neatly together by the end.

Nowadays, however, I’m more of a plantser. I still like to have a general idea of where I’m going and I still do the chapter-by-chapter breakdown. But one of the fun things about writing, for me, is when your story takes you in an unexpected direction. Sometimes I’ll reach a point in the story where I find I need something exciting to happen, which I hadn’t accounted for in my original outline. So, I’ll think of something, add it in, and realize it changes the way the rest of the story plays out. It’s more fun than it sounds, trust me. I’ll then revise my outline. I do this several times as I write a book. So, I still know where I’m going, but there are usually several divergences.

Good luck to all you pantsers out there. I don’t know how you survive.

Keeping track

I like to think of myself, for better or worse, as a very organized person. So, I’ve got my writing spreadsheet! Each day after I finish writing, I log how many words I wrote. Generally, I set it up with a total word count goal for the book (usually 77,000 words) and I get to see every day how much closer I am to that goal.

Different book genres have a general word count you should aim for. If you’re self-publishing, it’s more flexible, but I try to keep my stories’ word counts in line with what’s popular. So, by keeping track of what I write, I ensure that I’m aiming for the correct word count. It’s also motivating to me to see how much closer I get to my goal.

Bless the heart of anyone who can write thousands of words a day. Me? I aim for 500 words per day and I’m generally pretty good at hitting that mark. It’s not too much that I get overwhelmed, but it’s not too little that I feel like I’m going nowhere.

Discipline is very important. When I first started writing, I’d do it only when I felt like it and it took me forever to complete anything. Now, I generally write every day and I can finish a first draft in about five months. There are writers who can write and publish five books in the same amount of time, but that’s not me and I’m sticking to what works for me.

Second, third, and so forth drafts

Editing can be fun. It can also be a chore. Sometimes, after I do my writing for the day, I’ll edit what I just wrote right then and there. It helps me keep things consistent and it saves me time at the end. All the big, book-spanning edits come after I’ve finished the first draft, though.

When I do complete a first draft, I’ll do a read through of the whole thing to make sure it’s not a total disaster. I’ll leave comments in the margins for anything that is terribly written, doesn’t make sense, is inconsistent, could be improved upon…you name it. I focus on pacing and characterization and make note of where it needs fixing. Sometimes if I’m feeling kind to myself, I’ll even comment on things I liked!

After that, I’ll read through the book again paying special attention to all the comments I left. This edit is a bit more laborious. It usually consists of me deleting huge chunks and rewriting them. Sometimes I need to add in a whole chapter, or separate a chapter into two and fill them in to completion. It’s a lot! But, it’s really helpful.

I’ll do a few more read throughs, but they’re usually less intense (unless I did a really bad job!). It’s all a matter of getting things to a satisfactory point.

We’re still not done

Beta readers. We love them, don’t we? Beta readers are who we share our stories with and ask for their feedback. For me, I’m less concerned with grammar and spelling, and more concerned with how the story works as a whole. I want to hear about which characters people liked, how the pacing was, if the story is consistent and makes sense – all things I worked hard to get just right during my edits.

Your beta readers will find things. And that’s great! Depending on how many people you have beta read your work, you could have a whole variety of opinions. If there is a lot of agreement from your readers on what needs fixing, then it’s usually a pretty easy decision that it needs to be fixed. Some readers’ opinions might clash with each other, in which case it’s up to the writer to decide what suggestions to incorporate. It’s always helpful to see how different people read your story.

So you do another round of edits, which hopefully can help make your story better.

And then?

After you’ve got your story in a good place, it’s really up to you. Me? I’m self-publishing this trilogy. You may decide to query agents. You may want to keep the book for yourself. Whatever you do, pat yourself on the back. Not everybody can write a book, but you did. And that’s pretty awesome.