My Writing Process

So it's my week to choose a topic. And couldn't remember if I was supposed to post today or on my normal Thursday, so Em if I stole your day I'm sorry. You hadn't posted and then I freaked out and was like "oh goodness was I supposed to post first?" so I'm so sorry if that is the case, please feel free to steal Thursday this week. But not forever, please, because I love Thursdays.

Now to the point, I am in the throws of a project for school, I'm writing a novel for credit as in I'm being graded on writing for fun!! Sweetness! So I've been approaching new ways to plan out my story.

The approach that I normally take is simple. I write the story as it comes to me. i.e. on the palm of my hand, my tiny notepad at work, in my notebooks at school instead of paying attention in class. It has always worked for me. Granted, I don't always produce massive amounts. But what I produce tends to have a significant importance to my novel, scenes that pull it together you know?

Of course then there is the brief outline. Scenes and ideas, whatever flutters across my thoughts. This special little sheet of paper has no rhyme, nor reason, it is just a list. It is, in my opinion, the most basic of any outlining that I do.

Next up is the note cards. I tend to take the ideas from my brief, expand on them on note cards and then shuffle it all around until I like the way it plays out. I don't like this way all that much because it takes a lot of time, and we all know how precious that time is. Not that it isn't worth it, but sometimes I just think it makes more sense to write every scene out, beginning to end, and then shuffle it all around. Of course that gets messy and can take up just as much, if not more, time you never really know.

Now I'm approaching a new type of planning, as referenced in paragraph one, because of my Independent Study aka the class I designed so I'm being graded on what I love. I'm throwing caution to the wind and approaching outlining with a whole new outlook. I'm starting small, a list of ideas (in chronological order this time), then expanding that into scene summaries. I'm then going to organize those scenes into chapters (so it's a chapter by chapter break up) and eventually give the scenes dates. As in stuff like Oct. 17th or something like that.

So normally my writing process mimics my life, it is all over the place organizational wise. However, now I am trying out something new and going to see if I can pull off organization. Wish me luck.