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Writing Process Blog Hop
July 6, 2014
Writing Process Blog Hop
Before I begin let me say that I have no idea who started this blog hop or how far back it goes. I only know that my good friend Tera Lynn Childs asked me to do it and whatever she asks, I do.
The Fabulous Tera Lynn Childs
Like most people I have days when my writing process goes awry but to make it as a full time author you have to get past that and rededicate yourself to your craft pretty much daily. So here’s my process when it works.
1) What Am I Working On Right Now?
My current WIP is the second book in a new series that will be published by Delacorte. The first book is finished and is being prepped for publication as we speak with an expected release date of Fall 2015. I’m currently writing chapter 12 of book two and I have to say I’m pretty excited about this project. It’s based on the mythology of Egypt. Like the Tiger’s Curse books, there is romance, action, and adventure. There’s a gutsy heroine, too. But this time around there are not two handsome princes but three AND…get this…they’re mummies.
2) How Does My Work Differ From Others In The Genre?
My books always contain a good amount of romance. I’m a fan of poetry so my main character, Ren, in Tiger’s Curse was a poet. This time around I practice my poetry skills in the form of spells and incantations. When I first got picked up, my agent said, “You’re kind of all over the place mythology wise.” That’s still true in my Egyptian series. Though it’s heavily focused on Egypt, I freely borrow from mythologies and stories from any culture or country that fits into the theme of what I’m working on. You can’t pass a mythology test by reading my work but at least I’ll keep you guessing.
3) Why Do I Write What I Do?
When I started writing, my goal was to create something that a mom would enjoy as much as her daughter. I wanted parents to feel perfectly comfortable handing my book to their kids but I also wanted to write a book, and heroes, that a mom would swoon for right along with her teenage daughter. The perfect fit for me then was YA. Romance is something I love to read but I also love action and adventure and big sweeping stories. Basically I write the kind of books I love reading the most. Once in a while I think how awesome it would be if someone else could finish writing my book for me so I could just enjoy reading how everything came together without doing the actual work. I always say I’m a reader first and a writer second.
4) How Does My Writing Process Work?
I research and brainstorm for about a week. Then I just start. I’m a very linear writer. I know basic points I want to hit in the story but I give myself the freedom to explore along the way and don’t really stick to much more than a one or two sentence outline per chapter. Even then I’m pretty flexible if I find an offshoot that’s interesting. I heavily research along the way looking for fun and interesting things to add. My chapters are long, usually averaging five or six thousand words and my books are long too. My shortest is 120K and that was after editing. I always reread what I wrote the day before and have a 2K daily word goal and work four days most weeks. When I’m finished with the book I go back through the whole thing again, add and change what I want, and then send it off to my agent.
Now watch out for the next three authors I’ve tagged to continue the blog hop. They are…
LISA T. BERGREN
J. A. SOUDERS
PAGE MORGAN
What is your writing process? How many words/pages do you write a day? Do you set a timer? I’m curious so leave a comment and let me know how it works for you.
Until next time,
Colleen
This entry was posted in Writing Advice, Writing Tools.
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