It’s a Process

When a writer begins writing, we often look to the greats for inspiration and guidance on something we shouldn’t. It’s something so personal that if it’s duplicated, it’s purely by luck.

I’m speaking, of course, about the writing process.

Edith Wharton wrote in bed in the morning in her home in the Berkshires. Maya Angelou rented a hotel room so she never wrote at home. Jack Kerouac was just insane, eventually saying he hated writing.

We usually make the mistake of trying to imitate the greats, hoping what worked for them, will work for us. Personally, I’m a fan of the Edith Wharton method, because I love my bed eternally. Problem is, it didn’t work, because I’m also a fan of staring at the back of my eyelids for hours at a time.

When I had my crazy marathon writing session in November, I would write wherever I could. I downloaded the Google Docs app to my phone and typed on a tiny screen. I definitely don’t recommend it, but it also makes for some hilarious autocorrect errors.

My main problem I have when I write is that, when I sit down to write, I want to read what I have already and see where I left off. This tends to eat up any time I had for writing, because I’ll realize I don’t like what I wrote and I’ll work on fixing it then and there, instead of finishing a draft and editing.

I knew that if I did that in November, I would lose NaNoWriMo. I had an idea, though: what if I did a different word document every day, and copied and pasted my work into a master word document to check my word count? It worked! I was able to hammer out the 50,000 words and I was able to do it my own way. I didn’t have to work chronologically, I could write whatever part I wanted to work on. I’ve since rearranged everything and have it, for the most part, separated into chapters and it has a great start for a manuscript.

There you have it! And now you know my process, who’s ready for another excerpt?

Kate and Sean stared at their numerous monitors while everyone was out at the stables. She shoved popcorn with extra salt in her mouth like this was the last popcorn in the world, and if she didn’t eat it someone else would. Sean tried to get a few kernels, but Kate slapped his hand away without looking.

“Get your own,” she said distractedly.

The larger team had gone completely off camera. Their walkie talkie wasn’t even transmitting to the station anymore. Sean tried calling them a couple times, but there was only silence.

“Do you think we need to go find them?” Kate asked. Sean shook his head no.

“Pete and Esther do this a lot. Sometimes they just get dark spots that happen to be off camera. I’d be worried if they don’t come back when we regroup.” He snagged a piece of popcorn.

“Hey!” she squealed. She saw something out of the corner of her eye on Monitor 6. “What on Earth is that?” She looked fully on the screen. In one of the upstairs hallways, a door opened. No one exited the room, no one opened it from the hallway. Kate felt oddly pulled towards the doorway. She wanted to go up the stairs, down the hallway, and into the room. She knew any answers she wanted to any question would be found in there.

There was a loud honk from one of the vans outside, and Kate snapped out of it. It seemed Sean had been thinking along the same lines. He cleared his throat and continued monitoring the screens. They kept notes of what they saw happening on the screens. More often than not, it was objects moving on their own.

“So,” Sean said, still staring at the screen, “how did you get into this kind of gig anyway?” He briefly broke his stare from the screens and glanced at Kate. She was typing something furiously into a note.

“Oh, I’ve been friends with Liv since we were teenagers. She needed someone tech-savvy like me, so I said ok. I liked ghost stories and horror movies all my life, anyway. What about you?” Her gaze met Sean’s. He smiled a little.

“It’s gruesome, really. You sure you want to know?” She nodded, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth, and he blew out a large breath. “Alright, then. I found a dead body on a scout camping trip.”

“What?!” Kate jumped in her seat. spewing popcorn everywhere. He nodded.

“Yeah, there was a big murder trial and everything. But that’s not even the worst part. So here we are, little kids, like seven or so, and I find a body in the woods while gathering firewood. Guy had stuff carved into him. I recognized them now as cult symbols but back then I didn’t know what they were. And I swear, the man blinked while staring right at me. He was definitely dead but I thought he blinked.”

Kate shuddered and grimaced. “And I don’t think I’ll sleep for weeks now.”

Well, that’s all we have time for today. Anyone else want some popcorn now?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the blog and get your suggestions for future content! Comment below, or click Contact Me up at the top. I’ll have my  popcorn waiting!