My Writing Process by Lisa Orchard!
Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you! I want to take a second and thank Megan for allowing me to be a guest today. Thanks Megan!
She wanted me to share with you my writing process. How I go from the idea of my story to the finished product. Well…to start with I’m a total Pantser. That’s right! No outlining for me! I’ve tried to do the outlining thing and it just bogged me down. If I came up with an idea that wasn’t in the outline I felt like I was breaking some sort of writing rule. My creative process ended up getting stuck. So, I threw out the outline.
When I get the idea for a story I start my research. This usually consists of finding out the history of a town that I want to emulate as my setting. I also research different themes and ideas that I want to illustrate in my story.
When that’s completed, I write down a character sketch for each character and from there I begin. I usually know how the story starts and how it ends. I let the characters decide what happens in the middle. How do I do that, you ask? Well…as I’m writing the story I put the characters in different situations and see how they react. From there the story takes on a life of its own. I love writing this way because it’s fun learning things right along with the characters. When I’ve completed this story, it’s my first draft.
The next step is the editing process. I go back through my story to make sure that my time lines are accurate and I haven’t repeated too many phrases or words. This can be tricky because when I’m writing the story I’m concentrating on getting all the plot points in and sometimes I overuse certain phrases. So I have to go back and rework them. This is a long process, but I enjoy it. I love making my descriptions stronger and my dialogue wittier. I enjoy making a scene a touch scarier too!
The next step is getting the manuscript to my beta readers. That’s right. I have people who read my story before publication and they give me valuable feedback. The feedback usually consists of issues with dialogue or a problem in a scene. For example, maybe I had my characters riding their bikes and then later they’re riding in a car. As a pantser, I have to be really careful about these things.
After getting the feedback from my beta readers, I give the manuscript the final polish then it’s ready for submission. However, there are times when I get stuck; yes even a Pantser can get stuck in a scene. When this happens I usually reach for the chocolate. If that doesn’t work then I go for a run or a walk and the exercise helps me work out the details. It seems to work every time!
So there you have it, my writing process in a nutshell. Every writer works differently. So, if you’re an aspiring author pick a style that works for you, plotter, pantser or a combination of the two.
And check out my books, let me know what you think!
Lisa is the author of The Super Spies Series. To find out more about her and her book visit her @
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Lisa is the author of The Super Spies Series. To find out more about her and her book visit her @
Thanks Megan for allowing me to guest today! It is greatly appreciated! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa, for sharing that. Fascinating. I do many of the same steps except that I'm an outliner. I've done pantsing though, and I know that a lot of authors have considerable success with it. It was particularly interesting to hear about your research.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Graeme! I appreciate your support! I'd love to hear about your writing process sometime! :)
ReplyDeleteI swear we're kindred spirits Ms. Panser! The exercise thing works for me too! Great post, will share for ya!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I think you're right Sharon! Thanks for sharing and tweeting and all of your support! It is greatly appreciated! :) I hope you're having a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, its unbelievable how much work goes into writing a book that only takes a few days to read, it really opens the eyes to what authors do for us :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Nat! Yes, it is a lot of work, but it's so rewarding when you get feedback from your readers saying how much they enjoyed your story. It really is worth it!
DeleteLisa, great post! I am relieved to know I'm not the only one out there who throws outlines out the window sometimes! I'm big on the pantser method, but you're right about catching certain parts, because I write scenes out of order as they come to me (being in a car after biking for example). But you're SO right about the character development-I can't write a character completely out of scratch without some sort of story to put them in-seeing how they react as the story goes along, etc. It's much more fun that way and helps me get to know my characters better!
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz! I'm glad you stopped by, another fellow pantser! :) There is no shame in pantsing, that's my motto! What kind of story are you writing? I'd love to hear about it! :) I'm glad you enjoy your writing as much as I do! :) Keep up the good work! :)
Delete