I can't admit to a creative process simply because I write every day as a matter of habit. Some days prove easier than others: I occasionally have writer's block but I accept it and go off to golf! It's always better tomorrow and, like many newspapermen, I find the pressure of deadlines great motivation! Being self-employed and working from home I tend to work odd hours anyway, although essentially I'm a morning person.
Whether I'm doing a travelogue, an undercover piece or a short story, I gather all my scraps of paper, scribbled on napkins and receipts. I grab a large notebook and head to my favorite Mexican restaurant (this place has just the right amount of ambient noise) and start creating an outline. This part is the most fun. I'll just spit out any ideas, randomly and messily.
Then, I'll come back home and the real work begins. I sculpt the random ideas into a cohesive narrative directly on the computer. I'll do at least three drafts.
At this point, I print it out, and read the hard copy. I find that there are certain errors that you can only see when reading the hard copy.
Finally, I'll read it in front of my writers' group for additional feedback.
I try to write something every day. I have my quiet time before I write, enjoying time with my husband and the peace of the Smoky Mountains where I live in Tennessee.
Before i sit down to write anything I usually run the topic in my head. In my article writing I have a topic assigned then I do the research than as I said run the topic through the thought process at least a hundred times. In my short story or book ideas they mostly come from my dreams, then that gets run through the same process.
When I am ready to write down what is in my head I take my pen and notebook and try to as much as I can whether it is in order or not and have classical music playing to help me focus on what I am doing. I write mostly with pen and paper then I switch over to the computer to look at it in a different sense the back to the pen and paper.
My creative process is very messy. I brainstorm a lot. I do come up with an outline so I have an idea of what my turning points are going to be, but things are always in flux.
Before I sit to write, I absolutely must work out. It's very important for a writer to take care of the instrument of her craft!
I also have to drink lots of water. My brain doesn't work unless it's well-hydrated.
With criticism, I identify a subject that I find fascinating--a book, a film, or a piece of music--and I enjoy it from a purely personal point of view and then I begin to consider it from a more critical point of view, trying to understand the perspective of its maker(s), its structure, and doing research into its making and the context of its public reception. With "creative" work, there is sometimes an image or an idea or an emotion that I feel somewhat haunted by--it strikes me as significant and I cannot forget it and I began to want to create a place in which to put it, a story or a poem. I think about it, the haunting thing, and I think about what inspired it and what it is connected to, and I try to think of ways of making it dynamic and independent of my own perception--that is, making its significance accessible to someone else. I think that both critical and creative work involves rigor, standards, imagination and a certain amount of objectivity as well as self-expression.
I used to write many of my stories in my mind while working on my regular job. You might say I was daydreaming. At lunchtime, I wrote in my scribbler. At home, I did the first edit when I typed it on my typewriter. It was a slow process. When I got my computer writing became much faster. Now I don’t write in a scribbler anymore and I don’t daydream either. I just sit down and begin writing. I reread the last chapter to get into the mode and then I carry on with the story. If no ideas come, I write a word or a short sentence, which I might or might not use in the story. It helps to get the creative juices flowing. Usually.
Ahhh I really hate discribing this lol. My creative process I think is unorthodox compared to many more esteemed writers out there. My brain never stops. It's annoying really lol. It goes constantly, everywhere I travel and people I meet, the ideas rush through and if it wasn't for my blackberry so I could record all these brainstorms; articles I want to write about, plots that jump into my head. I don't know where I would be.
What happens before I sit down to write is nothing more than I have an idea and I grab my laptop, I open word and I begin. I know you're saying huh? There has to be more to it than that?
Maybe there is but for myself (not really). If the story (say a romance novel) I'm working continues to move forward then I will not stop writing, but it's then I begin my outline, character interviews and development to help the story further itself and creative the meat and potatoes so to speak of the journey it will travel.
Seriously though I cannot sit down and write out an outline, develop characters and plot the chapters and then write. If I do that I don't finish the work. The best way I know how to write is to just DO IT! It's then my excitement for the story grows and builds because like my readers, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen and that is just so much fun!   | | |
Sometimes nothing happens first. I just decide to work on a project, and I sit down, mentally roll up my sleeves and beghin to type.
Other times, I might be doing dishes or watching a movie or driving the car when an idea comes to me. If I'm able, I stop what I'm doing and get to my computer as quick as I can. Then the idea rolls onto paper. If I'm in the car, I pull out my little recorder and verbally 'jot' down the idea, depending on traffic, of course.
My creative process...hmm...
When it comes to just my natural writing process, I simply get inspired by something random and it gives me an instant idea for a poem, fan fiction or short story. For required stuff like homework, I read about the assigned topic online, arrange the literary structure in my head, and finally sit down and write. For serious literature, take this as an example:
I plan to start on my first mystery novel while still in summer vacation, so I spent the past few days researching 'crimes of passion.' The next couple of days will be used in thinking up the plot and the tricks needed and hopefully, after that I'll turn on my laptop and start writing.
I drink! Just kidding...well...sometimes! I definitely need to be in a relaxed mode before I write--wait--that's not true--sometimes I do my best writing when I'm really angry. In any event, I have to "feel ready" to write...whatever that means.
Ideas come to me at any time, sometimes I'll jot things down as they come to me and sometimes I'll just mull an idea over in my head until it starts to take more shape. I'll often get a notebook out to make a quick note but then carry writing, especially if I think of some dialogue. Once a character starts to speak they take on a personality and it can be hard to shut them up.
I write when I am emotionally inspired. I write about how I feel, lessons learned from a life experience. Most times the pen directs itself.
The short answer is everything! Like a lot of people I am juggling writing with work and family life. My writing time during the day is snatched - I've learnt to jot down ideas as they come (backs of envelopes, shopping lists, dictaphone). These get thrown downstairs to the basement for safe keeping (away from kids, paper eating hound). Then in the evening after everyone is asleep I run downstairs and try to make sense of the garbled messages. The process works a bit like an Oracle. It sounds chaotic but it works for me! |
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