In my last blog post, I outlined the way I write, and in it I mentioned that when I’m not writing, I’m editing. Well, since I have once again failed the process of planning my next post ahead, I thought, “Eh, why not? I’ll write about that.” After all, my original post on editing went up on October 1st, 2015 (nearly two whole years ago), and was thoroughly cringe-worthy in hindsight.  Since so much time has passed, I thought I’d tell you about my current editing/revising process, and what those nearly two years of experience has taught me.

I’m not as much of a rule-breaker when it comes to editing, since English has rules—but I’m sure my process differs from other writers’ in one way or another, so I’ll continue to present my process as a series of confessions.

Confession #1: I let my first drafts sit a good long time in their oh-so-rough state before I let them see the light of day again. Why? Because I’m the author. No matter how it turned out, I still have a heavenly picture in my head of how it’s supposed to be.  Not how it is, but how it was, in my head, before I ever put a word on the page. This makes it extremely difficult (if not impossible), to spot errors right after I finish writing it.
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So I let it sit. I used to say “for a month,” but it’s probably closer to a year these days, because of the writing-editing-writing cycle I use. For example, I just finished writing Warriors of Aralan #10. #8 is the one I've just started editing, and when I publish it, I’ll go back to writing and write #11. Then I’ll head back to #9 for editing, and so on.

It seems that every time I get within four to five days of my next blog post’s due date, I end up in a mad scramble to get something useful down for the readers of this blog. Well… this time around is no different, but I thought I’d write about something a little more personal this time: my story-writing process. (My blog post-writing process is just a panicked sprint to the finish line).

This is something that’s unique to every writer out there—some fill the walls of their writing space with minutely-detailed post-its during the plotting process—others don’t plot at all. Some write several thousand words in one sitting, while some write only a couple hundred on a good day.

My method breaks just about every familiar writing tradition (myth)? out there, and ends up somewhere in between pantsing and plotting. Since I'm such a terrible rule-breaker, I thought I'd show you my process through a series of confessions. ;P
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Confession #1: I don’t carry a notebook for jotting down story ideas. I find it kind of inconvenient, and don’t really enjoy writing by hand. [distant screaming] However, I still have a strange, groundless obsession with pretty notebooks and pens. (I know, I'm weird).
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So what do I do with plot bunnies? I figure if they’re meant to be, they’ll stick around.