My Writing Process

It starts with an idea that’s a lot like being caught in a downpour: it just happens. Whether I send Sheba flying at 2am in the morning in my haste to write down an idea before it flits away, or a picture that catches my eye. Most of the time it’s a piece of music that stirs my imagination, but it can also be something based on current shenanigans that I want to explore out of my own perspective. Frankly, for most things that pop into my head my first thought is, “I should write a book about that.”

Once I have an idea, that’s when the torture begins. It usually starts with me staring at a blank screen for days on end. I give up a lot and leave it alone for long periods so that it doesn’t bite me. But it does haunt me so let’s pretend I’m brave…

Many authors have different approaches to writing a book. There’s sticky notes, white-boards, notebooks or just the daring act of putting one word after another, only to be pleasantly surprised that it turned out as a chapter. However, some authors still change their method after having written many books and that’s a comforting thought. Writing a book is as easy as getting a tattoo: there’s nerves, a cold sweat, blood, some swearing and after it’s all done you’re in absolute awe.

For me, music and Pinterest are crucial elements. Dialogue snippets, scene favorites and character sketches all get jammed into a notebook that’s as visual as it’s chaotic. It’s about getting everything and anything orbiting that idea out of my head and into a notebook and I’ll figure out where to fit it in later. Then, I sweat long hours to get a basic rough draft of the beginning, middle and ending and still end up in a panic about what I’m actually going to write. It’s always been astounding to me when I read a book how the author thought to include all these elements, but then I remember that what I read is the finished product of a lot of edits, constructive criticism and advice – which is again a comforting thought. Your first draft will be very different from what the final product will look like.

I’ve written some short stories and fan fiction in the past, as well as two books: Meliôn and The Protector.
Meliôn was my Narnia rip-off novel meets Eragon that I wrote in high school. There was a map, magical creatures, a quest and a call of destiny in the protagonist’s ear. My notebook was basically a scrapbook and I invented my own language that I rolled across my tongue at regular intervals while I made coffee. Because I had Narnia and Eragon as a base, figuring out the plot was not too difficult because it had the same basic structure. Then, it was just a matter of picking a magical creature, adding dialogue, giving them a cool name and some of their own traditions. It was about the world building more than it was about the characters. Meliôn was not a literary masterpiece because it had a lot of cliché elements. That being said, I had a blast writing it and it’s still one of my top happy childhood memories. Meliôn was my entry into the writing world because it was just about having a go at writing a book and having fun with it because no one was ever going to read it but me. The Protector was a bit different because it was entirely the product of my own mind and I was serious about the business. Inspiration for this book (that I later self-published) came from the idea that I wished I could travel into my favorite reads, which is a skill I then gave to my protagonist. There was a lot of historical elements and, being older now (I wrote this while at university), I enjoyed doing the research. My notebook was still full of Pinterest inspirations, but there was a lot more printed pages from Wikipedia involved. The Protector was about the characters interacting with an already existing world with a few fantasy twists to keep it exciting.

As a rule, the book is all about the characters. We want to see depth, conflict, growth and a kiss here and there. I usually focus on a character and build the story from there, but lately my approach has changed. Sometimes the characters will inspire a story and tell me of the world they live in, other times the world tells me what type of person will survive in it. I don’t think it’s necessary to be either or, both elements are important in a book I’ve learnt.

When I have my characters and my world ready, I just enjoy the process. It’s the out loud thinking and talking the idea out, it’s the joyful gasp when an idea works itself out, it’s the giggle when my characters have a tender moment, it’s the evil laugh when I kill them off.  
I do have doubts that all I’ll ever be good for is just a journal full of ideas, but never getting down to writing a book about it, or that I’ll be stuck in a perpetual mindset of ‘one day I’m going to write that book’ – that’s why just finishing it is so important. Even if it’s a bad idea, they too are necessary before you get to the good ones. To keep me inspired, I like to listen to author podcasts and I follow Leigh Bardugo, Jay Kristoff and V.E. Scwab almost religiously, as they are my inspirations.

I have at least one idea before breakfast and writing for me is like a sacrifice of the mind as you bear yourself naked for others to judge… but it’s fun so I’ll keep doing it.