My Writing Process Blog Tour

I was invited to this blog tour by author Ben Starling, an Oxford grad who is passionate about marine conservation and boxing, both of which are central themes in his upcoming novel. He is currently Writer in Residence for Mirthquake Ltd., a production company that advocates for ocean health and welfare. You can see his Writing Process Blog Tour post here .

And so, here are the four questions and my answers (I might have been high on coffee and cupcakes when I wrote them, but then again, when am I not?).
What Am I Working On? I am currently writing a companion sequel to a young adult series that isn’t published yet, so I can’t share the storyline of this book, but I will tell you a little about the first book.

The Hunted is not your average boy-meets-girl story. The boy, Seb, comes from a long line of monsters that kill and eat humans—called skinwalkers (shapeshifters, originating from Navajo legends). They are pure evil, born from witchcraft and have the ability to transform themselves. They can be anyone, anything.

But are they just legends? And are they all as evil as foretold?

The girl, Cassie, comes from a long line of Hunters—a group of humans dedicated to tracking and slaughtering these creatures. For centuries, these two sides have heavily clashed while trying to protect their own, and Cassie's about to find out how sadistic they can be. Seb begins to question the acts of his kind. But he’s broken a rule and must choose between killing the girl he loves, or risking everything to save her.
How Does My Work Differ From Others In Its Genre? I like to add my own twist to stories that have been told many times over. As you can see from The Hunted, these are no ordinary shapeshifters. They’re born from dark witchcraft and vengeance. I like weaving fiction and legends together, creating unique tales.

Also, all of my main characters are quirky in one way or another.

Why Do I Write What I Do?
 I have no control over what story ideas pop into my head and I can’t get the characters to shut up until I get their story down—sound crazy? Maybe I am, but hey, at least I’m never bored with the amount of ideas stacking up! How Does My Writing Process Work? My writing process has changed quite a bit since I began writing. If you’d asked me then about a plan, I’d say, “Plan? What plan?” I used to mainly just write. I’d be up to early hours of the morning just typing away (that’s how I’d pen a 70k novel in 5-6 weeks). But now, I plan about ninety percent of a novel before I start (though quite a few scenes and ideas crop up as I’m writing, and yet they seem to fit in perfectly as if I’d planned them …). I spend two weeks to a month beforehand—preferably a month, unless I’m in a bit of a time-crunch—doing character profiles, research and plotting. Sometimes I use note/system cards to outline each scene, other times I use the corkboard feature in Scrivener . It depends if the storyline is clear at the time or not—if I need to easily shuffle scenes around.

Nowadays, I usually write during NaNoWriMo* or Camp NaNoWriMo because I like to write fast, and there’s no better motivation than that 50k word goal at the end of the month or knowing that thousands of other writers are right there with you. And because I like to get the stories out as quickly (and as best) as I can, I often still can pull off 70k words in six weeks.

I tend to drink a lot of coffee when I’m writing, read lots of fiction books (I like to stick to the genre I’m writing in, or at least the age group), can often be found in the kitchen whipping up a batch of vegan cupcakes or cookies when I should be writing, and maybe the occasional (frequent) checking of twitter. Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out Ben’s Meet My Character Blog Tour next week on July 21st on his blog ! You can also visit Ben at Goodreads , Twitter and Facebook .

 



*National Novel Writing Month, a writing marathon where you try to write 50k words in a month.