My Writing Process Blog - Part Two

Welcome back to the The Write Way Café for another round of the My Writing Process Blog Tour.  There is no “right” way to write.  I’m always interested in learning what works for other writers, and looking for ways to improve my own process.  I'd like to thank my friend and blog partner, Lynn Crandall, for inviting me to participate.

What am I working on?  

My current project is a contemporary romance titled Fugitive Heart.  I started the story as a means to cope with frustrations generated by a situation my family was unwittingly drawn into and had no control over.  My characters, J.T. and Dana, took on a life of their own and put my negative emotions to work in a much more positive way.  I’m also working on a story about a woman who reconnects with her first love while in the midst of a midlife crisis.  The idea for this story haunted my sleep for a week before I accepted the challenge of telling the story.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don’t know that my work is any different than others in the genre, but I like throwing two people together who have very different ideas about life, and showing how they overcome their differences to make their relationship work.  Everybody has a right to be their own person, and I hope I am reflecting that attitude in my characters.   

Why do I write what I do? 

I write contemporary romance because that’s what I enjoy reading.  My goal is to write books readers can relate to and get lost in.  I’ve enjoyed so many adventures by living vicariously through characters in books, and I hope to share some of my own adventures – real and imagined – with others.  I want to share and encourage a love of reading.

How does your writing process work?

I never go anywhere without at least a small notepad and pen, along with whatever book I’m currently reading.  Ideas are everywhere!  They hit me when I least expect it, and often they are quite persistent until I jot them down.  That being said, I’m definitely a pantser.  General ideas and notes work well for me, while outlining drains my creativity.  Usually I start with a character and a situation.  Sometimes I have ideas about where the story should go and how it should end, but other times, I figure it out as I write.  I like turning my characters loose on the page because they always surprise me.

My writing flows better when I draft on paper, because my mind works faster than I can write.  I’m always trying to catch up with the thoughts in my head before I lose them.  But I put the draft on the computer early in the process.  My thinking process is progressive, so I have to write the story in order.  I can’t write a scene for the last third of the book, even if I have the idea detailed in my notes, until I get there.  It messes me up.  And I’m learning to let a draft be a draft the first time through, instead of trying to revise and edit it to the point that I can’t move on because that section isn’t done yet.  My writing process is definitely a learning process! 

Thank you for checking out my writing process.  Next up on June 23, Nancy Brandt and Meg Mims.  I hope you will check out their processes as well!

Nancy S. Brandt is a stay-at-home mom, Army veteran, kidney transplant recipient and cancer survivor who has been writing romantic fiction for over 20 years.  She loves crafting worlds where magic, dragons and intrigue keep her hero and heroine apart and only the power of true love can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.  After all, when the real world is full of parking tickets and tax returns, don't we all need some magic in our lives?

www.nancysbrandt.com

Author Meg Mims – also one-half of the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins mystery writing team for St. Martin's Minotaur – lives in Michigan. She's won a Spur and a Laramie Award for her popular western mystery series. http://megmims.com/my-writing-process-blog-tour/