Research, steps for writing, and my usual ramblings
I've been asked a couple of times if I do research for my stories, and I always answer with a resounding "Hell yes!"
Right now I'm taking a fiction writing class at my university. I absolutely love my class--except that I have to get up at an ungodly hour to go to it--and I feel like I'm learning a lot from the class. I'm really only taking the class to work on my craft, because I like writing and I want to improve myself.
I'm saying this because I have to read my classmates stories--one's that they have written and I have to review and analyze--and as I do this, I can't help but think of all the steps I now take before I begin seriously writing my stories.
Let me break it down for you:
Step one: Come up with a solid idea i.e. Reapers.
Step two: What genre am I going to write in? Do I want to write a romance? Horror? Mystery?
Step three: Who are my characters? I write a brief description of my main characters(the first thing I wrote for Nina was: Nina is a struggle college student. I was basically just talking about myself lol).
Step four: Research, research, research. I want to write about reapers, so I have to research reapers. Wikipedia is a great start, but I tend to go in depth, look at history, names, etc.
Step five: Outline my story. How long is it going to be? What is my setting? What is the theme of every chapter/book? *My outline for Can't Fight Time was around 20 pages printed out.
Step six: Go back and make sure this is really what I want to do. Do I really want to commit my time and energy to this project? This is a huge step because I have about... oh... I'd say like ten projects just sitting on my computer right now.
Step seven: Start writing. Now I'm weird, because I don't write chapter by chapter. If I want to really write a scene, but it's in chapter 12 and I'm on chapter 2, I'll stop and start on chapter 12. I jump around a lot because my writing depends on my imagination and my mood. Sometimes I see scenes so clearly its like I'm right there with my characters, and other times I'm slogging along trying to write a scene.
Step eight: Send it off to my editor. I love my editor, he's fantastic! I seriously couldn't have done AGL without him.
Step nine: Go back through. At this point, it's been a couple of days since I've seen whatever I sent my editor and I've let the story sit. Letting my stories sit for a little while is really important, because when I go back through I can have fresh eyes.
Step ten: Add and take away. This is when I add what needs to be added to make the story coherent, and take away whatever I don't need.
Step eleven: Let the finished project sit for a little while. Depending on the length, I let it sit for 2-5 days. Once this is done, I take a fine tooth comb and go through everything. I read out loud and have my computer read to me to catch mistakes.
Step twelve: send it off and hope for the best.
Researching, outlining, developing characters and their environments, and letting the story sit for a little while are all corner stones of my process. I've written around thirteen or eighteen (I always forget) stories, and it's taken me a long time to develop this process, but it's a process that really works for me.
A good story--a good chapter really--takes time, dedication, and great people to really work. I've been lucky enough to have a publisher who believes in me, an editor who has encouraged me, and a mother who promotes me and showers me with love. The people you surround yourself with really do help the writing process, and I'm so happy to say that I have a great group around me.
Right now I'm taking a fiction writing class at my university. I absolutely love my class--except that I have to get up at an ungodly hour to go to it--and I feel like I'm learning a lot from the class. I'm really only taking the class to work on my craft, because I like writing and I want to improve myself.
I'm saying this because I have to read my classmates stories--one's that they have written and I have to review and analyze--and as I do this, I can't help but think of all the steps I now take before I begin seriously writing my stories.
Let me break it down for you:
Step one: Come up with a solid idea i.e. Reapers.
Step two: What genre am I going to write in? Do I want to write a romance? Horror? Mystery?
Step three: Who are my characters? I write a brief description of my main characters(the first thing I wrote for Nina was: Nina is a struggle college student. I was basically just talking about myself lol).
Step four: Research, research, research. I want to write about reapers, so I have to research reapers. Wikipedia is a great start, but I tend to go in depth, look at history, names, etc.
Step five: Outline my story. How long is it going to be? What is my setting? What is the theme of every chapter/book? *My outline for Can't Fight Time was around 20 pages printed out.
Step six: Go back and make sure this is really what I want to do. Do I really want to commit my time and energy to this project? This is a huge step because I have about... oh... I'd say like ten projects just sitting on my computer right now.
Step seven: Start writing. Now I'm weird, because I don't write chapter by chapter. If I want to really write a scene, but it's in chapter 12 and I'm on chapter 2, I'll stop and start on chapter 12. I jump around a lot because my writing depends on my imagination and my mood. Sometimes I see scenes so clearly its like I'm right there with my characters, and other times I'm slogging along trying to write a scene.
Step eight: Send it off to my editor. I love my editor, he's fantastic! I seriously couldn't have done AGL without him.
Step nine: Go back through. At this point, it's been a couple of days since I've seen whatever I sent my editor and I've let the story sit. Letting my stories sit for a little while is really important, because when I go back through I can have fresh eyes.
Step ten: Add and take away. This is when I add what needs to be added to make the story coherent, and take away whatever I don't need.
Step eleven: Let the finished project sit for a little while. Depending on the length, I let it sit for 2-5 days. Once this is done, I take a fine tooth comb and go through everything. I read out loud and have my computer read to me to catch mistakes.
Step twelve: send it off and hope for the best.
Researching, outlining, developing characters and their environments, and letting the story sit for a little while are all corner stones of my process. I've written around thirteen or eighteen (I always forget) stories, and it's taken me a long time to develop this process, but it's a process that really works for me.
A good story--a good chapter really--takes time, dedication, and great people to really work. I've been lucky enough to have a publisher who believes in me, an editor who has encouraged me, and a mother who promotes me and showers me with love. The people you surround yourself with really do help the writing process, and I'm so happy to say that I have a great group around me.
No comments have been added yet.
