What is your writing process?

I’m fortunate to have a great sounding board in my husband, Patrick. He lets me run ideas by him, and he encourages me when I’ve got a good one. I keep a running list of notes. People may see me on my phone sometimes and assume I’m texting or browsing, but no, I’m jotting down something I can’t bear to forget. Sometimes they are just phrases that I like. Other times the notes are detailed storylines or even plot points for my current work. When inspiration strikes, when the idea comes, I have to record it, or it could be lost forever.

When I was able to devote myself to writing my first novel, Hear, I spent months logging ideas. Then in the fall of 2016, Patrick and I spent a few hours in the swimming pool talking through them. Without giving away what I intended to do with the story, I gave him just enough info about each idea to see if it would grab him or not. He helped me narrow down the list to just a few, and I settled on the story that a year later would be my first finished novel. But first, I took about a month to ponder the plot.  I had the beginning, and before long, I had the ending. I then allowed myself to find my way writing between the two.

Hear was my first finished novel, though I had started writing different novels three prior times. When I’m working on a book, my daily routine revolves around writing. It’s a job. But one that I love doing. I’m proud of so much I’ve done in my life and career, but nothing brings me as much joy and fulfillment as the writing process. Even with the pain points and anxiety, the self-imposed pressure, and even the times of doubt. The reward is worth all of it. Including the time. For me, writing leaves little time for anything else of consequence other than my husband and my dogs…my family.

Patrick is involved in the process too. He’s usually a few chapters behind me in his reading and critiquing of the work. I keep him behind since the puzzle sometimes changes and I have to reconfigure some of what I’ve recently written. But I can’t let him lag behind too much because it’s common that his feedback brings up matters that I have to address…close a loop on an issue I didn’t see. That’s what BETA readers are for. Patrick is my in-house, insightful BETA reader.

I wake up thinking about the characters and spend my morning exercising, thinking about where I left them the day before and contemplating what’s to happen next. It helps me proceed from the previous day’s pausing point when I open back up the laptop. After re-reading my last few paragraphs and sitting with the story for twenty or thirty minutes, I can plunge back in. After a few hours, usually around dinner time, I’ll pause writing for the day and spend the rest of the evening letting the story seep. At night, I dream about the characters. What they eat. What they do. I live with them. And when I wake, the process resumes.

I’m currently writing my third book, Treasure. And like before, I can’t get the characters out of my head.