A great deal of procrastination is what happens before I write. Cooking, messing around online, finding trivial jobs to do. Anything but write!
My process is chaotic. I often write the end before the middle, and write a lot of stuff that later has to be thrown out because it's of no relevance. The first draft is all over the place until I discover what the story is about, and whose story it is. In this way I find the novel's backbone, and then have to remove everything that doesn't fit with what I discover. I am one of those writers who does it to find out what they think about something in particular.
I follow a multi-dimensional process; allowing myself to write freely, and then both "reading" my own writing for the themes that creep in unconsciously, and editing. I tend to do free writing and editing simultaneously, though at any given period one or the other dimension is dominant.
Before sitting down to write I try to prepare an hour or two without interruptions, and get my tea and papers in order. Then I turn on some heavy metal, to wall myself off sonically. It has to be heavy metal because otherwise I can sing along and the music gets distracting.
I love to have a long walk in the morning before I start work, and very often find an idea comes into my mind while I'm out, and has largely worked itself out by the time I get home, so all I have to do is just sit down and write it.
If that doesn't happen, half an hour's meditation at lunch-time, a cup of coffee and sitting down at the laptop and just staring at the screen can do it... and I always carry a notebook and a pen for all those moments when an idea comes to mind in the most unexpected places.
I sometimes record stuff on my iPod, too, for transcribing later.
Most of the time, in my daily life, I am inspired by something I've encountered. It might be just the sight of someone in passing that triggers an inspirational topic. Many times it is a feeling I have when I'm in the midst of nature. Once I sit down I begin to brainstorm my feelings in a word document and then I start assembling my thoughts into sentences and paragraphs that flow and make sense. I usually research the topic somewhere along the way but it is usually towards the end of my writing. I want to make sure I'm relying on my experience first and then I like to accent my thoughts with research.
I recently became editor in chief of a new magazine, Your Family History, and therefore write a number of articles for each issue. The creative process comes from an interest in the subject I want to write about. There's nothing worse than feeling forced to write about something that you cannot connect to; through research, reading and a process of empathy it is possible to almost step back in time, and give voice to the people whose lives you have examined. That way, you engage with the reader far more readily.
I do have a routine this is a given for me, I first must have my coffee ready along with my writing tablet as I do write in a tablet before transferring anything to my computer, old habits die hard. Then I need to have my box of tissue handy a I know I will cry always happens. I chose the music I will be listening to. Then lastly I sit facing the west looking out my window at the foot hills of the Rockies as this gives me a seance of peace. It helps my creative juices flow.
Very simple. I sit down and write. Every day. There is no process, just opening up the dam.
This is hard for me to pin down but generally I try to write almost anything everday, even if it's not for the novel or the screenplay or any particular project. Every morning I try to write 'morning pages', then I do a lot of exercises that empty the mind completely such as meditation.
I will then plan out and this usually means pacing in my room, talking to myself, talking as my characters, mapping out geographies and logistics of areas so I am painting the scene in detail before I get down the prose itself. I like to play music that encapsulates the tone of the scene I am about to write and usually get rather frustrated if I cannot find the right fit - this can some time!
With poetry I am completely spontaneous, so I jot down verse in a notebook I carry around.
Otherwise I break up writing by going for a walk or peeling potatoes - anything that takes me out of my mind space as it were.
When I'm struck by an idea, I try to jot it down immediately. If I don't, it's gone forever. Once I begin writing, I'm transported into my own dreamy world where nothing else exists but my thoughts, pen and paper. It's euphoric.
There are Christians who write, and there are Christian Writers. The former are Christians who write in any genre. I write on Biblical themes. There is plenty of scope because the full range of thoughts, emotions, behavior and spirit is portrayed. I don't want to sound super-spiritual or religious. However since you have asked me, I usually pray over a period of weeks until I am confident I have something to write on. Often it is just one word. For example, in Forget the Former, my impression was to write about the word 'Advocate'. This is a legal Word. It is also a title given to Jesus Christ. So I set the book in the Courtroom of Heaven. It was all about forgetting the past - my life story thinly disguised in the light of the Bible.
After I decided on 'Advocate', I did word-studies and cross-references to see what themes I could use. From there, the really creative process takes over. I take a fair amount of time just meditating on the direction, and my imagination
throws up mind-pictures. So it goes.
Nothing special happens before I sit down to write. I am quite disciplined from all those years of report-writing.   | | |
I get the urge to write then do it.
Maybe put my media player on random, that's about it.
My creative process is magical in its purest sense. While writing the "Deja vu" series, I would walk my dogs during late dusk, often returning well after the moon had risen. During the dark twilight of the evening, I would gaze at the moon and ideas would flood into my head. It was during these evenings I would create each chapter, later to record the written ideas during the deep nights or early mornings when the house was peaceful.
These are my favorite times!
I write a variety of pieces -- journalistic style, marketing, and academic. Essentially the processes to begin are similar - I familiarize myself with the subject at hand, whether it's a health issue for a newsletter, a brochure for a facility, or a research paper on a particular topic area. I generally do a brief literature search to gain some background knowledge - especially important if I am interviewing a health professional.
I usually let the information churn over in my mind for a while - a day or two is average. If it's a journalistic piece I may begin by jotting down research questions, keeping in mind who my audience is; for a marketing piece, I have a similar process, only instead of questions, I may note key points or messages. And for an academic piece, I plot an outline - usually in my head - and start sorting my information relative to the structure.
Usually a lot of thinking -- I can sit in front of the window and stare out at my back garden while the muse is working. Or, I can spend time doing the boring jobs like turning out cupboards, ironing, weeding or floor washing while the plot develops in my head.
It's at this period of writing funny things happen -- like my husband finds the teapot in the fridge, or I've served up a meal different to the one we agreed to earlier in the day.
Other times an idea will come so forcibly I have to write it down immediately so I don't lose its thread. I enjoy this period! But that doesn't come often enough. |
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