What is your writing process?

Back when I began my M.F.A., one of the first questions I was asked was, “What is your writing process? To put the words in my head down on the page, right? I just write what I think and then revise, revise, revise until it comes out, hopefully, to something someone will want to read. That was my writing process, or so I thought. But, I learned that there is so much more to writing, especially if you are undertaking a novel length work, and every author has their own way of doing things. There is no right way to create story. We all have to find the ways that work for us.

Some writers are plotters, and some are pantsters, just letting the story flow, so they can be surprised right along with their readers at how the story turns out.. Those who are plotters find fabulous and creative methods to work out their plots, from using a whiteboard, to taping note cards on the wall above their desks, to good old fashioned outlining. While some authors, like Barbara Chapaitis, who was my “Chatting with the Pros” guest last January, are binge writers, who get an idea and then locks themselves in a room alone for days on end until the story is written.

Some like to do their writing at night, some in the morning hours when their creativity is at a high. Some write with their favorite music playing, while others require quiet in order to write. Some writers write everything out in longhand, while others type it out on their keyboards. Still others, like Kevin J. Anderson and Martin L. Shoemaker in their book, which I reviewed this month, “On Being a Dictator“.

Coming soon

It is a subject that has fascinated me, and questions on the writing process are commonplace in my author interviews, because everyone does it different. In fact, back in 2018, when I was running the “Ask the Authors” series, I ran a segment on it in both rounds of the series, which is soon to become a chapter in the Ask the Authors book, scheduled to come out later this year from WordCrafter Press. I think it fascinates me because there are so many different ways to approach writing, and some of them are very creative.

Like many things, writing processes change and grow as we do. Back then, I carried a notebook and wrote stories out in longhand if a computer wasn’t handy. I just wrote from off the top of my head and let the words fall as they may. I loved to write while my favorite music played, and since there were others in the house, it was usually blasting into my head through a set of earbuds. But now… Now I carry my laptop everywhere and do a lot of pre-writing activities in my head. (The writing process begins long before the words ever hit the page.) I seldom listen to music while I write because I too often catch myself singing along instead of writing. (I’m seriously considering giving dictation another go, because many ideas are lost because I can’t get them down right away.) And I outline, especially for novel length works, but even a little on short stories, too.

What is your writing process? I would love to hear about your own unique approaches. Let me know in the comments.