#My Writing Process

The lovely and talented Morgan Richter tagged me on The Writing Process Blog Tour! We met when we were both working as temps on the Paramount lot in Hollywood. We were practically neighbors, living across Olympic Blvd. from one another. We were frequent guests at each other parties until Morgan moved to New York City and I moved to the burbs. I love her blog, you should make it one of your bookmarks.

Now on to the questions at hand:

1) What am I working on?

My focus this week is on a New Adult Paranormal novel I've been working on for a year. After having written it once, twice, three times a lady… with way-more-than-I-care-to-admit different edited versions, I decided to rewrite the entire thing this past spring. Now, I am editing and polishing the new manuscript!

For a hint as to what it is about--the story stemmed from a couple of questions about standard fairytales and Happily Ever After endings: Why doesn't the Fairy Godmother save Prince Charming for herself? Are there any rules for being a Fairy Godmother? What if, just once, the Fairy Godmother fell in love with Prince Charming? What would happen?

2) How does my work differ from others in its genre?

My work is really just a New Adult novel. It's the paranormal bits that make it different from other manuscripts in the genre. My main character would object strongly to being the main character in a Paranormal novel. She has deluded herself into thinking she's just an average twenty-five year-old SoCal chick with a slow metabolism, terrible eyesight, and a tendency to splurge on designer handbags.  But she's not. She's a fairy by birth and a fairy godmother by trade.

3) Why do I write what I write?

I write because I am a fan of storytelling and the allure of getting to use my own imagination to create a story that other people might enjoy is just too powerful for me to ignore.

4) How does my writing process work?

It involves a lot of staring at walls and my husband yelling at me over and over that I'm not listening to him. And I'm not, but I don't like to be accused of it. Makes me seem insensitive. 

It's just that the little voices in my head are louder.

Each manuscript is different but here is how I've been most successful recently:

1. Feed cats, make tea. (In that order lest I be killed.)

2. Put on writing clothes (torn, unattractive, loose fitting) from the bag that I was too embarrassed to give to Goodwill.

3. Put my butt in the big leather chair.

4. Here's the tricky part – avoid all social media and emails.

5. Write at least 2,500 words or else you can't leave the chair.

6. Only after daily goal is met, answer emails and use social media.

7. Use leftover creative energy to edit other projects.

8. Rewrite WIP.

9. Edit WIP.

10. Feel triumphant.

11. Feel worthless.

12. Feel completely spent.

12. Repeat 1-12 above when the sun rises again.

Now, I am passing the pen to the fabulous Miss Maria Powers, a dear friend and writer from the Los Angeles Romance Authors writing group! I look forward to reading about her writing process!