Warning: this contains spoilers for my short story If Only
Today I'll take you through my personal writing process. Now...this actually changes for each story that I write, although some of the basics stay the same:
Brainstorm
Order/Details
Write
While I type my stories out on a laptop (and sometimes a typewriter), my brainstorm process is always scribbled written in a notebook. I have several empty or half-written-in notebooks, but my special brainstorm notebook is a small brown notebook that I've had since I was fifteen. It helps me to have my favorite notebook and pen. So much history and creativity is already imbued into those objects, and it gives me encouragement.
I opt for notebook and pen because brainstorms are supposed to be quick, straight from the gut feelings. With a pen, I can quickly scratch out wrong words and just kind of...throw up words onto the page.
For "If Only..." I had a writing prompt to base my work off of. Now, sometimes ideas just come immediately to the brain like lightning. Sometimes, however, the ideas decide to stay locked inside a vault that has been buried underneath five separate layers of cement.
My most used question to get past those layers is: "Why?"
The prompt said I can't see my footprints. Why?
My character is dead.
Tada! You have your thread. Now, I get tempted to get into details here. But details are not the purpose of brainstorming. The purpose of brainstorming is to find what I like to call a "story thread." It's kind of like a plot but not as fleshed out.
So, now that I have the start of my thread "My character is dead," I can continue off of that. The question "Why?" might get into too many details so I opt for "Where?"
When all else fails, go through the questions: where, when, why, and how.
Well, I already know that the "Where" needs to take place in snow. How about a snowy cabin?
Now I have more to go off of.
I continue this question-asking-brainstorm session until I feel I have a sufficient thread to work with.
My thread came out to be: "My character is dead. They died in a cabin. They were at cabin because they wanted to be alone. They wanted to be alone because they had a fight with their family."
So here I have my thread. The next step is Order and Detail.
This is where you get out the computer or smartphone or encyclopedia and start doing research and finding the details that will give your story that sense of realism.
Remember, it's your story and so what you say goes, but giving it just enough plausibility will keep your readers enthralled.
I took my thread and for order I flipped it and decided to start with the fight. Why? Every story has that one "what the-!" moment. The moment that grabs the reader and keeps them invested in the story.
That's why I kept the characters death a "surprise" until the end.
Next, you want a protagonist that will connect with the audience. That means giving them something they are aiming for and then making them fight for it. Creating relatable characters can be difficult, but here's the secret. Draw from real life.
What gives you the passion in life? What are your vices? What makes your best friend different from you?
The character of Emily was driven by her self-justification and then guilt. Her family was driven by fear and anger. No characteristic is inherently bad, but used in extremes, conflict happens.
Once you have the details and order hammered out, the only thing left to do is write.
For my first drafts are the most enjoyable part of writing. It's the initial creation, your imagination is exploding all over the page. Its intoxicating.
Second drafts are not. At least for me.
After the first draft, I read it over out loud. Reading aloud can help you catch grammatical errors and places where things just don't make sense, oh goodness what was I trying to say.
After I've read through and made my changes, I give it to a beta reader. They give me there criticisms and critiques and I write the second draft. Third draft. Fourth. However many you need until you are absolutely satisfied.
Remember: you cannot please everyone.
You will never write anything that everyone will like. So don't beat yourself up if someone comes out and doesn't like your creativity.
Ultimately, you have to remember why you create. And when you know that, everything else will fall into place.
Aaand that's all I have for tonight. I apologize for the long post.
Please, let me know if you liked reading about my writing process and if you'd be more interested in these "thought process" posts in the future.
Thank you for reading!
Emi Scaeli
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