Blog Hop–What’s Your Writing Process?

Real-time view of my writing process in action. Glamorous, isn’t it?

My fab critique partner Karen Stivali tagged me for a writer Blog Hop, in which I am asked to share some info on my writing process. My answers are below! Don’t forget to take a minute and stop by Karen’s blog to read her answers.

What are you working on? Sheesh, that’s a secret! Seriously though, I try not to talk too much about my books before they are ready to go out in the world. These things need to marinate in my head and all aspects of a book are subject to change until final edits are complete. I reserve this right as author! I can say that the book is about Adam, a gifted artist. I like to refer to him as a modern-day Renaissance man, because he has a brilliant mind and is scary smart. We all know what that leads to…mental torment and anguish. Adam is so jaded about love that his art has suffered and he’s in denial about what’s wrong, so he’s become a hermit in the mountains of North Carolina. Only Melanie, a go-getter art broker with a penchant for brooding men, can lure him out of his man cave, as well as his own head, and teach him that there is such a thing as true love in the world. I suggest you bring a box of tissues.

How does your work differ from others in the genre? I think it all comes down to voice. It’s every author’s secret weapon because let’s face it–there are only so many ways to tell a story. Otherwise, I like to write outside-the-mold characters and I break rules whenever possible. I did the opposite in school. I always followed the rules and I regretted it.

Why do you write what you write? I write what’s in my head. As to why I choose to put it on paper or virtual paper for the whole world to read, some mysteries are best left unexplained. I only know that it’s a compulsion. I do know that I am drawn to love stories. I love to watch the dance and feel like I’m a part of it. It says so much about what it’s like to be human. It’s the one thing we all want, whether we’re willing to admit it or not. We all want to fall in love.

How does your writing process work? I have to laugh a little at this question. The word “process” makes it sound so exacting and scientific when it is anything but. I am not a super disciplined person and I have the attention span of an eleven-year-old. This means that my process has been different with every book. With my first book, I just sat down and wrote it. I wasted tons of time making mistakes, but it was a journey of discovery. I had no clue what I was doing. I just figured it out. My second book was like combing your hair one strand at a time. By that time, I knew most of what I shouldn’t have been doing the first time and it psyched me out. It was difficult, even though the end result was still good. The big thing for me has been recognizing my strengths, like the fact that I am super productive in the morning. Getting up at 5 am is routine now and I can accomplish ridiculous amounts of writing in the 90 minutes before the kids get up for school. That is when I sit down and GO. I don’t edit, I don’t plot. I just write. The rest of the day is for the other stuff–outlining, research, nitpicking, thesaurus wrangling.