Friday, March 1, 2019

My writing process


I’ve been asked a few times recently what my writing process is like. I didn’t know I had a process and had to Google as usual.
My writing process is not only the way I write. It is also how I approach my writing, my working environment, etc. So here goes:

My best writing time
Although I love it when the muse makes her appearance, I wouldn't say I like that she does it at three o'clock in the morning. This had happened for months before I even imagine writing a book in June 2016. I usually got frustrated, rolling around in bed listening to my husband’s deep sleep (AKA snoring—just joking!). Then, when I first ventured into writing, I still woke up at three, but then I got up and wrote. It was awesome, except it was in the middle of the freaking winter. However, what do they say? There is nothing that a cup of tea can’t fix.
So, what time is the best time to write? Anytime works for me. I had to admit though that the first two hours before the rest of the family is awake, the writing seems to flow.
Sometimes I get frustrated when the story is flowing, and I have to stop because life gets in the way. I make a point of stopping around 17h00 in the afternoons, or as close to that as possible. Then it is family time. I enjoy getting up early, so by five, it is already a long day for me. If I got up at 3 or 5 in the morning, I might go for a nap in the afternoon. Then I’ll feel refreshed to work for another couple of hours.

My writing environment
My favourite place to write is in my study where it is quiet—or as quiet as can be. We moved to a smaller apartment where I have a loft. I have a private space. I often have the whole apartment to myself when the dude is at work, and the dudeling is Down Under.
I’ve tried to write in coffee shops, but South Africans are not quiet people. Sometimes I write a page or two but rarely. I get distracted by watching people. I can understand why JK Rowling wrote in an Edinburgh coffee shop. It is way quieter than our coffee shops.
I have written a few scenes at the airport, in hotel lobbies or hospital waiting rooms. My other favourite place to write my rugby romances are next to the rugby pitch while my favourite team is training. I don’t write what they are doing or describe the players. I think it is the atmosphere that helps me to write.
I thought I’m not organised, but other authors and writing coaches told me I’m more organised than most writers. Tell that to my husband! Every few weeks I’ll clean my desk and try to prepare for the next project, but it doesn’t stay that way for long. Let’s say I like organised chaos.

Silence or not?
I listen to music when I wanted to get the right atmosphere, or when I use a specific piece of music in my manuscript. I had, for example, described a scene in Summertime Blue where Nathan and Meghan danced to the tune of Leonard Cohen’s Dance me to the end of Love. I’ve done it in other books. In one scene in Blood Brothers, I listened to Edith Piaf for about half an hour each morning so I could get the mood right for my Paris scenes.
I prefer to write in silence. If it is noisy in the house, I put on my headphones to drone out the most annoying sounds.

Pen and Paper or Computer?
 I type faster than I write. I’m a proficient typist (in my heyday I typed between 80 and 100 words per minute if not more). I’ve also been a software tutor somewhere in my youth, so I know how to use many Windows-based software programmes. I guess that helps. I can adapt to new applications, and in the last few months, I had to learn new technology all the time.
I use Grammarly and the Hemingway App and ProWritingAid. I use British English and for novels, blogs, business writing, etcetera.
I don’t work on hard copies. I’ll be bankrupt if I have to print them all, plus it is schlep storing them. After all the edits between the editor and myself, I edit the print proof again.

How do I approach my writing?
I don’t approach my writing. My characters approach me and if they have a convincing story who am I to argue? Most of the characters I know well. They were with me from the middle of 2016 and I know where their stories are going. They still surprise me though.
I write when the characters talk to me. Sometimes I don’t even know who the characters are because I’ve never encountered them before. Months later I will find these scenes, saved under the funniest names because I didn’t know under which manuscript to save it. I have one, for example, saved as Holy Hell!, because that was how the scene started. I will write what they had to say and then continue with my current WIP.
Other times one character will talk, and I've only planned his book to be published much later. I will save it under the same document, at the end. When I read one of my manuscripts I’ve written like that, I found that I’ve written more than a hundred thousand words! How did it happen? Some were complete garbage, but I also had some beautiful scenes to use. It is still a future project, but I can’t wait to work with it.

Planning
I’m not a good planner. My characters are taking me on journeys I never expect. I’m a planser, meaning I plan a series, but I can’t plan what each character will do before they are doing it.
If I’m lucky, I’ll write my first draft in a matter of days or a week. I will read it through, make notes where I need to do more research, change scenes, or need more scenes. I will then leave it for a few days before I get back to it.
I promise that I’ve tried to use outlines, but it doesn’t work that way—not for me, anyway. As I’ve mentioned before, when a character talks I write a scene, even if it is not in chronological order.
If I have an idea, I’ll research, but most of the times I write. In the afternoon I’ll re-read what I’ve written that day. Sometimes it is up to 6000 words and makes notes of what I need to research. The next morning I’ll do my research (or not, depending on the muse). I often will write the first draft, do the research, change it and leave it for a few days. I’ll then re-read it, make more notes. I then often leave it for weeks or months before I work on that manuscript again. I’ve written Blood Brothers during NaNoWriMo 2017, for example, and haven’t touched it since.
When I revise in the afternoons, it is spelling errors. It might result from when I was working, but I correct typing errors as I go along. I’ll only do a grammar check when I’m satisfied with my first draft – or maybe eighth draft.
During my re-writes, I change paragraphs/scenes around, re-write a scene or add more scenes. In my final draft, I may remove scenes, that give away too much of another story.
I set myself deadlines, but as I’m an Indie author, I can adapt. It is useful when one character insists on being published before another. Why should I drag things out of one character, frustrating us both, when another character will talk?

My eating habits
 If I’m into a story, I forget to eat. Luckily I have a husband who makes sure I eat and brings me many cups of tea to keep me alive. All the tea ensures that I have to use the bathroom, so it means I need to get up regularly.

Writer’s Block
Touch wood, but I haven’t had writer’s block yet. I work on something else if I get stuck. Last year for NaNoWriMo I prepared writing prompts, but I only had to use two.
The last few months I’ve been in editing and translation mode. I’ve decided that it was getting too frustrating. I now force myself to write an hour a day. I’ll use writing prompts when I need them. I don’t know where I’ll use it, but if I have to use characters and I don’t know who they are, I’ll call them Jack and Jill.

What type of writer am I?
I’m an emotional writer. I cry while writing a story or laugh in others.
One day my husband came into my study while I was writing an emotional scene. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. He, immediately concerned, asked what was wrong. I sobbed that my character had died. He shook his head exasperated and told me, “It’s your character. If you don’t want him to die, don’t kill him.”
I almost wailed, “But he had to die. Otherwise, I don’t have a story!”
He shook his head and retreated. Nowadays, if I tell him and my daughter a story, they looked at me and ask, “Is this now one of your characters or is it a real story?”
I don’t understand. My characters are real, aren’t they?
They are real to meand I hope that if I can feel such emotion, then my readers can too. I had a few told me they were so angry with a character, or they cried so much, and that is worth more than anything.

Why am I writing?
First, I write for myself, and then I write what I hope readers would like. I know my sports romances are different. It is not as hot and steamy as most, but my characters might have different stories to tell. I also hope I can convince readers that not all romance novels are trashy.

#writing #writingprocess #francinebeaton #romanceauthor #southafricanromanceauthor #amwriting

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