Writing Process? What Writing Process? - #MFRWauthor

Back again. Thanks for continuing to join me on this year long blog hop. So this week is about our writing process.

Now for all those authors who are planners, I'm sure they will have some really informational posts this week. Words like outline and plotting will be thrown around. There might be mention of calendars and schedules. Notebooks, memo pads, all the things that help you organize which will aide you in your journey.

This will not be one of those posts.

My writing process goes something like this.

Image source: http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1733

Or this

That's right folks, I'm a pantser. I hated outlining in school and still hate them today. I don't have any concrete idea of what is going to happen in my book. I know what I want to happen, but depending on how much of an asshole my characters want to be, those things may or may not happen.

My process goes something like this:

• Idea pops into my head.
• A 'movie' plays out in my head of possibilities about that idea. 
• That leads to the first few chapters maybe being written out because I have a crap memory and I need to get it down so I don't forget. If not chapters, then just the idea itself. 
• After that I wait. I wait for the characters to tell me what's next. Sometimes it's easy going and they have lots to say. Other times, like the rut I'm in, it's like pulling teeth, getting blood from a stone, or any other saying that would talk about a difficult task.

Really that's it. I don't have a 'process' since things are always changing. My characters are completely in control of the story because it's theirs. I have to let them tell me how things should unfold. I don't always agree, but that's how it happens. If I try to force things to go 'my way' well it makes things harder and usually feels forced. The way Fiendish ended is a prime example of that. I wanted things to go a different way, but as the story unfolded I had to accept what I wanted to happen wouldn't make sense.

I'm also an edit as I go person. I can't just do the traditional first draft thing of getting the story out. I do a scene and then I have to make sure all the holes are plugged, or as plugged as they can be, because let's face it, we can't catch them all. I tried once to just write and worry about editing later, but I failed. So I no longer fight it and just accept it as part of my process.

There's also a lot of whining, cussing, and maybe a meltdown or two along the way. Plus some consuming of wine. I'm lucky to have people that will listen to me then give me a virtual slap to the face to tell me to pull myself together and get me back on track.

Now I've only completed one book, but boy did I give a huge sigh of relief when it was done. Capped off by a spa day thanks to a gift certificate The Hubs had given me nearly a year earlier. I've already told him I needed another spa day when Not Broken is finally finished and that publish button has been hit.

That's it for my process. What's yours?

**normally I have a link to the other blogs on the hop, but this week we don't have one. Will update later when it becomes available.**

Thanks for stopping by
~Meka