Welcome to my Writing Process! Here, I will show you my writing process and hopefully help and inspire you along your journey as well. :D
P.S. It's highly inspired by my favorite author, Marissa Meyer! Check her process out if you'd like. I absolutely devoured it.
P.P.S. Struggling with a part of the process? Email me or message me on Goodreads and I'll no doubt provide you with all the information I know!
P.P.P.S. I did write this a long time ago and things may have changed - as an aspiring writer I'm always discovering what suits me or what is best in the writing process. Nevertheless, I do hope this brings some inspiration to all the fellow writers alike :)
Hello, hello! Welcome to my Writing Process! Before we start, I want to tell you all a few things.
First thing is: Everyone is different! This is the most valuable thing I want to tell you, and you must take it away in life as well! Every writer’s process also looks different, and what works for me, might not for others.
Then why… This? Well, I personally love to share all things writing and books. I was inspired by Marissa Meyer, who wrote the awesome Lunar Chronicles trilogy (which I love, but am still reading). I think it’s an amazing idea that lets all writers take inspiration as well, and hopefully help them. Also, I find great enjoyment in reading / hearing about the writing styles of other writers—if you do the same, well… This is just for you, then! From this, I hope you will take away these things with you.
Motivation
An Understanding of Why
Writing Tips
Writing Techniques
Things You Might Change About Your Writing
Entertainment
Inspiration
If you do one of these, I will be more than glad. If you take away all of them, well, you let me know and you’ll be guaranteed to make my day!
So, fellow writers, I know being an aspiring writer, or even a published author, could be difficult sometimes. However, you are a writer for a reason! You want to share your story, your voice, and bring joy to the world with your passion.
Why not hop on this fantastic adventure one of a kind and find pleasure and inspiration in it? After all, we fellow writers need to work with one another. That’s important.
Anyways, I need to thank you for being here, and for continuing on your writing journey. I hope we progress together and I wish you the best of luck writing!
Your Writing Buddy and Forever Friend,
Carrot :)
Hello fellow writers!
Welcome to Phase One of writing your unique, and much needed story. Every part is equally important, and you often cannot miss one another. They are all crucial to the process! This one is the starting point—the sparkle of flame that will soon expand to an undying wildfire.
Your Idea and Brainstorms is for you to create something vague or precise—depending on your writing style—and help you move forward to your first draft.
So buckle up- You are about to dive deep into the start—or what I would like to call… The Sparkle of Flame.
P.S. Isn’t that exciting?
P.P.S. Yes. Yes, it is! Super exciting!
Everyone’s writing process looks different.
For me, the generation of ideas usually comes out by chance. Mostly when I’m doing something utterly random that I suddenly find inspiration for an idea just come. If it does, I jot them down.
Jotting down my bursts of ideas is an important part! I sometimes have snippets of ideas, while other times I have a plot of a whole story. Ideas can be anything; from plot to characters to world building and theme. Like everything else in our writing process, there is no limitation!
Sometimes, the idea struck me so much I start it right away, while other times I keep them in the Notes app of my phone and browse on the Note when I’m looking for an idea after finishing a project.
One time I tried to blend stories I love together, and it kind of works! I make a brand new story and adjust some parts and store it safely. My second book, Three Peas in a Pod, comes from that idea but blended with another idea I had in mind. You can do all kinds of things. The key is to be creative and ideas will come flowing like a tsunami!
And once you have your idea (and don’t rush it, it will come! Inspiration is everywhere in the world), congratulations! It is time for a tiny celebration before you move on to the next brainstorming part of phase one. :)
Brainstorming is always one of my favorite parts in the starting phase. The reason is simple; you get to take your idea and expand it! Whether you like to outline detailedly, and are what writers call a “Planner”, or you don’t like to outline at all, and just start writing with a one or two sentence idea, which we call “Pantser”, this part is actually needed for both types. And remember: There is no right or wrong!
Typically, for me, I like to plan simple. I’m in between the line of a Planner and Panster. This is something I just figured out (I’m currently on my first draft of my second novella), and I’m very confident it will change over time—after all, I have only just started on my storytelling journey!
But for now, I like to start with a “Roller Coaster Outline”, which is a graph-like planning template. It includes…
Exposition - the start of the story where characters are introduced, as well as their internal conflict.
Rising Actions - things that sets the plot moving forward, and also the development of internal conflicts and relationships
Climax - the results of the rising action. The plot point that makes protagonist(s) fret and is typically intense
Falling Action - the results of Climax, in which the protagonist(s) are slowly getting what they desire (internal and external), and progresses are made with the plot, nearing the end
Resolution - the ending of a story and reflection of the progress, developments, and chances the characters and/or their world made
Remember that you can always change up things, but like Brandon Sanderson said, you have to learn the rules before breaking them. That means, you should try different techniques and then break some of them to produce a story that is unique and personal to you!
After my basic outline of the plot (and the internal conflicts), I move on to my characters. I like to plan my plot first because it, in a way, changes my characters and how they need to be for the story. But after that, my book tends to be all character-based. Meaning, their internal conflicts drive their everyday decisions, actions, and words. Their desire, fear, misbelief, is always reflected in the books, and should be clear to the readers. By the end of the book, their internal misbelief, which is also the opposite of the theme, should be resolved, also with other problems like: relationship, world, etc.
But this is not a how-to-write book—it’s a writing process. So forgive me if I go vague in parts like these. Nevertheless, now you realize how important characters are. They make us care about the book and make it matter (from Abbie Emmons). So when I’m developing them, I write their desire, fear and misbelief, and paired with their unique backstory that reflects who they are today. Backstories are the parts that I sometimes get stuck with. I do not like to plan too detailedly, so sometimes I wait until the first draft; and as I am writing it, backstories will come bursting out of me!
Next part: I plan the world. Now, I’m not an epic-fantasy writer or anything similar to that, so my world is usually pretty simple. If it wasn’t, I think I would develop it later when I’m writing the first draft.
Anyways, it’s all sort of like a mystery to me—a fun mystery, tangled in knots waiting for me to solve. It happens in the first drafts too, these knots, and boy are they just… Fun! They are my favorite parts of writing, and always gets me celebrating if I solve it.
Another thing I need to mention is that for me (and for most writers as well), their plan will change throughout the story—meaning that the outline is still needed (in fact very important if you plan), but don’t worry over details that you think might not work. During the drafting period, trust me, you will get it done and corrected. And in the revision, even more so!