Anne here, and today I'm answering some more questions I was recently asked — this time about my writing process. I say "my writing process" because every writer's process is different — writing is a uniquely personal process to every writer and there is no "right way" to write a book. I hope it's of interest to you. (And another book goes to Jacque for asking the questions in the first place.)
1) Do you hand write your first draft?
The answer is yes . . . and no. (That's not me in the photo)
I do a mix of hand-writing and typing direct onto the computer. Sometimes I will just list the things I want to include in a scene on the back of an envelope, and then I'll write the scene straight onto the computer. After that I'll tweak and edit and rewrite it until it's more or less how I envisaged it.
But I hand-write a lot of scenes as well, sometimes because I've had a "brilliant" scene come to me, and I've scribbled it down in my notebook, but it's a "scene to come" and I don't want to type it up until I get to that point in the story. (I'll talk more about that in my answer to question 2.)
Often I'll write by hand because I'm a bit stuck as to where to go next in the story. Hand-writing always frees me up. I might start by asking myself how my heroine or hero is feeling at the end of the last scene, and what they're worrying about, what might they do, etc. Somewhere in that process, a spark happens, I write a line of dialogue, then another, and it's off and running.
My "scribble," as I call my handwritten scenes, is almost always dialogue-heavy. I sometimes have to race to keep up with the characters talking in my head. Then when I go to type up the scene, I "choreograph" it — weaving in details of setting, and action and character thoughts — whatever is needed to flesh out the bare dialogue.
Towards the end of the book I mostly type straight into the computer, because by then I usually know what each scene is about and what I want it to achieve. But I might still scribble bits.
Ideas also come to me at odd times when I'm not near a computer, and then I'll scribble them down. They can range from a snatch of dialogue or a smart one-liner, to notes to myself about what a scene has to achieve, or how I need to change or deepen a scene I've already written. (That's not me in this photo either, though I wouldn't mind looking that glamorous and mysterious.)
By the time I've finished a book I've usually filled at least one 200 page A4 (US Letter-sized) notebook, often two, with scribble. They might also contain ideas and notes for future books or stories.
2) Do you write your stories chronologically or do you write in sections, leaving gaps to be filled later?
I write — as in type up the document — chronologically. The only gaps I leave for later are small bits of relatively unimportant research that I need to do — usually clothes, or a description of a place or looking up what fruits or vegetable might be in season for a meal — that kind of thing.
I don't skip scenes because in each scene something changes, and sometimes the things the characters say or do might surprise me, and the direction of the story changes.
That's why I don't immediately type up the scribbled "scenes to come" — I don't type them up until I get to that point in the story, and often, in the interim between scribbling down the "brilliant" scene and getting to that place in the book, it no longer fits the character(s) or the plot. And often it isn't brilliant at all — what was I thinking? <g>
3) Does the writing get easier?
No matter how many novels I've written, it seems to be different every time. Which is good in a way, because it would get boring to do the same thing over and over. But it gets no easier. (And no, that's not me in the drawing either, sadly.)
In some ways I think the actual writing — the construction of sentences, the evoking of a scene or a mood — I'm probably better at some of that than when I started. Experience has to count for something, after all.
But the construction of a plot, making a story feel fresh and unexpected, the unravelling of a character's motivation, making them come to life on the page, and fall in love with who you want them to when you want them to — that gets no easier. I wrestle with every single story to make it work.
And then there are the expectations of publishers and readers. Will the story I am telling meet their wants and needs? I never know. I remember fretting madly over The Autumn Bride, in which the relationship between the four girls and an old lady dominated the first part of the book — certainly the hero arrived rather late on the page. I was sure readers were going to hate it. Turns out they didn't.
In Marry In Haste, it seemed to take forever for the hero to get to the point of meeting the heroine, let alone proposing a convenient marriage to her — he offered her a job first — and again, I was worried readers would hate it. But that man needed to be driven to the point of marriage — he had an important job to do, and marriage and females were, in his mind, simply a distraction. Luckily, readers didn't hate that one either. But the point is, I can never tell. I just have to write the story as it comes to me. (By the way, the e-book of Marry In Haste is on special at the moment for a few more days, so if you'd like to read it, grab it while it's a bargain price.)
I'm heading towards the end of the book at the moment, and fearing once more that it isn't going to be the kind of story that people want or expect. So, does the writing get easier? Sadly not.
So, wenchly readers, that's my process. I hope you found it interesting. I can't think of any clever or fun question for you to answer (imminent end-of-book = brain deadness) so I'll just blatantly bribe you and offer a book to someone who leaves a comment. <g> Thank you.