My writing process

I would like to say that my writing process is a well-oiled engine that churns out words on a regular basis, but that would be a lie. Sometimes it is a well-oiled engine, but at the moment it seems to be fitting and sputtering along. Life has got in the way -- something I always swore wouldn't happen to me. And the trouble with this is that because I'm working on two (or sometimes even three) books at the same time, and because I have multiple drafts, I lose touch of where I'm at. What this means, in real terms, is that I have to spend a lot of time re-immersing myself in the story before I can write, and this means reading time. Lots of reading time. Oh, I'll think, didn't he do that? But that was two drafts ago, and I've since removed that section, which has repercussions right through the book. Why can't I find the scene where he does this? Is it cut or have I moved it? Oh, her motivations for her actions have changed; their relationship is different. And so it goes on.

The trouble with not writing regularly is that I sometimes seem to spend more time re-immersing than I do writing. I just get back into the story, the juices are flowing, and another interruption comes. I definitely work best when I'm writing every day. During the end of last year's NaNoWriMo, I wrote over 26,000 words in four days, and one of those days was an "interruption day" where I achieved very little, which meant I had to write over 8,000 words on each of the other three days. I could only do that because I was fully immersed. I know students have been impressed with that, but I see it more as a failure of organisation -- that I was forced into such a position because I hadn't built up enough words earlier. It's all in the organisation. Sit down. Bum on seat. Write.

Usually, when I am immersed, I'll start by reading over what I've written the day before and edit as I go, and that will put me back inside my main character's head, and I'll be ready to go. I can write between 1000 and 1500 words in an hour. I'm not one who sits and agonises over every comma. I have enough of a handle on my grammar and punctuation that I'm not thinking too much about it, and so I can splurge on the page. It's not always that easy, of course. Some days are harder: the words don't want to come. I might try some free writing. I might play a few games of spider solitaire, but the only way to get over the block is to do it. Sit down. Bum on seat. Write.

If I'm aiming for a particular mood in a scene, I'll put some music on. Usually a soundtrack. It works best if I'm not singing along. Humming I can handle -- that doesn't fill my head with words and leaves me room to write.

I don't often plot ahead. With my first two books I had the start and end points and a rough idea of what had to happen. The last is a bit more sketchy, but I do know where it has to end. Sometimes I find the not knowing what's going to happen exhilerating; sometimes it's just downright frightening. When I had finished my third draft and had sent my novel out and it came back with a detailed reader's report, I decided I had to weave a second storyline through the first, and that involved extensive plotting, extensive thinking about structure and where things were going to fit. More often, if I'm stuck, I'll do a little plot noodling -- I'll sit with a pen and paper and start asking "What if?", which helps me explore possibilities. That's always hard but rewarding.

I have extensive character and setting notes -- one of my favourite tools is Patricia Wrede's article on worldbuilding questions -- a fantastic resource for any spec fic writer, and available on the SFWA site. Filling those questions out was perhaps the hardest thing I ever did with my novel, but also the most enriching. I knew so much more when I had finished.

I don't make pictures in my head, so I can't "see" the scenes unfolding as I write them. It's more that I hold the idea of what's happening conceptually. It's the same when I read, so it's no disadvantage, though I must say I envy people who say they can see the whole book unfolding for them, just as if they're watching a movie. Still, I find it amusing when people tell me my work is so visual that they can see a movie unfolding. How can that be? Perhaps because I'm used to the cues that other writers use -- and that's why reading is such an important thing, for all of us writers.

Tracey