I'd like to share with you a little about the writing
process. Of course, I can't tell you how all authors write, but I can share
my process as well as those of some authors I know.
There is a popular theory that if you had a room of monkeys typing on a
keyboard and infinite amount of time, they would be able to replicate all of
the great works of fiction or indeed any book ever written. So I guess my
biggest problem is not having enough monkeys to do the writing for me.
Another theory is that to write a story, you start at the beginning, keep
writing until you reach the end and then stop. This sounds easy, but when
you start to put the words down all sorts of questions start cropping up.
What is the beginning? How will I know when to end? How do I get from the
beginning to the end?
Some authors create a very detailed outline of their story before they start
to write it. They need to know every plot point before they can start
writing the story. Once they have all of the details mapped out, they put
the words on the page and the characters in the story follow the map.
Some authors don't know where the writing is going to take them, they don't
map out their story line first, but just start with a concept (a setting, a
character, an event) and see where it takes them. They approach writing with
a "let's see what happens next" attitude.
I actually fit in between the two. I need to know the basics of my story,
but as I write, there are twists that happen that I didn't know were going
to happen. It's almost like the story takes on a life of its own and the
characters go in directions that I didn't know they were going to go in, but
eventually, they meet me back at the story line that I started with. It's
actually kind of fun when your characters start taking on a life of their
own, because at that point, they start writing the story for you (maybe I do
have monkeys in a room somewhere).
One thing that is very important to me is that I need to know my characters
very well. They need to become "real" people to me. I imagine different
scenarios (that are not in the story) and need to "know" how they will
react. I have imaginary conversations with my characters to get a sense of
who they are and what their opinions and attitudes are.
Not all authors have to "know" their characters like I do, but for me, if my
characters are not like real people to me, I can't write the story. So, how
did I start Misfit McCabe? I had the basic story line from a dream I had and
thought it would make a good story. Next, I had to get to know Katie really
well because she was the main character and therefore the most important for
me to know. Why was she a rebel? How did feel about the things happening in
her life?
Did I have the entire story from the dream? No. Just the basic story of
Katie being sent to live with her Uncle and a few things that happen to her
there. I knew that she and her Daddy loved each other very much, but she had
to leave anyway. Once I had decided what the major events would be for the
story and knew Katie, then I started to write the story.
One very important thing to know about writing is that writing the story is
just the beginning. Once you get the story down on paper (or on a computer
file), you then go back and re-read and revise. You are looking for mistakes
(like missing words) as well as changing some of the story (like adding a
burning shed to the beginning). EVERY writer makes changes to their work
because they always find something that they want to change, something that
will make it better. No one starts with a story that doesn't need changes.
It doesn't matter how many times I review a story, I will always see
something that I want to change, so for me the hard part is determining when
the story is good enough.
One teacher I had once told me that the ability to write a story was the
ability to keep your behind in the chair long enough. Inspiration of what to
write is the wonderful part because your brain is bubbling with ideas and
they take hold and "haunt" you until you put them down on paper. Then comes
the work of staying in a chair long enough to get the whole story down - and
review it more times than you can count.
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