Internal Struggle of a Writer

Well, look at that.  Too much free time again, and I really don't feel like doing chores.  This is a problem I've found I've had a lot lately, even with finals looming next Friday.  It's not exactly something I enjoy admitting, but I've been bored out of my mind.  In light of this, I decided to let you all know my writing process.

WARNING:  This may show up on my YouTube channel at some point over the next week.

It all starts with an idea.  That idea can come from anywhere, though I do try to avoid writing ideas that spawn from dreams.  All these ideas--and trust me, there's a lot of them--are written down in a notebook.  I've found it makes it so much easier to refer back to them then, and most of them never get any sort of attention until I've hit a block on the novel that I've been focusing on (mostly) for the past two years.

Character development is next.  Yeah, I actually develop my characters.  I have several different exercises I do for this, including, but not limited to, a character interview, writing diary entries for them, a complete profile of them, and various other things.  There are a bunch of character development worksheets I've found recently that I've taken to using, too, to keep everything organized.  All of that goes on loose leaf paper to be put in a folder/binder/portfolio for the book/series that I'm currently working on.

Next is setting.  Sometimes, I'm terrible and don't think this through all the way.  However, especially with what I'm currently working on, I have to have some sort of visual aids to make sure that I can accurately describe what I see in my mind's eye.  I take pictures, I make maps, I scour the Internet for strange names and plants.  I do everything I can to build the towns, countries, even houses, down to the last detail and I make sure I have records of it all.

Finally, finally, I start writing.  I may occasionally skip around, depending on who is in my head at the moment.  Yes, I know, it sounds crazy, but that's how it is.  The characters have to be alive for the writer if the writer wants to have any chance at them living in the readers' minds.  I may go through eight or nine different drafts of the same chapter before I move on.  Sometimes, I may end up just rewriting the whole novel four or five times.  It all depends.  The most important thing, though, isn't just to finish it.  It's to make sure I've enjoyed every moment of it.