The Method To My Madness

With all of the authors taking part in NanoWriMo, I've been thinking a lot about the actual writing process and how it differs for everyone. It really is amazing to stop and think about the overabundance of ideas that run rampantly through our veins just waiting to make their way onto paper. So once again my curiosity has been piqued and I'm wondering what process everyone uses. Do you have any unusual quirks while writing? Favorite spot? Favorite snack? You get the idea.

For me, I can write pretty much anywhere. But I do have a system that I follow when writing. Now I have claimed to be a notorious pantser. This is becoming less and less of a reality the more I think about it.

Here's a glimpse at my madness:

*Get all of the ideas down-I get the main idea, how I want to start, the ending and everything else in between.

*Research-Don't get excited. I do not spend weeks scouring through the Internet or various books, though I have tremendous respect for those who do. For my current ms I Googled everything I needed. For example I compiled a list of creatures that I wanted to use and vague descriptions. This way I could come up with my own original ideas for them.

*Character charts-This is something I never skip. Again for my current ms, I needed detailed descriptions of each character. Getting vivid images of them in my head helped push the storyline and made the ideas come easier.

*Start writing-Finally! During my first draft I write and write until I hit a wall. When I do, I go back to the beginning and do a read through until more ideas come to me. Sometimes I'll switch over to my notebook and this relieves the pressure of that blasted cursor blinking at me.

*Journal-I keep a notebook with me at all times, just in case I find myself with some writing time or an idea pops into my head.

*Revise, revise, revise-Need I say more? I go through countless rounds of revisions and editing before anyone else is able to lay eyes on what I'm up to.

*Awesome betas-Once I have gone through and revised until my eyes are ready to fall out of my head, I send the ms off to my beta.

*Beta revisions-Once I get those notes back, I scour the MS and fix editing mistakes and address all of her fabulous suggestions.

*Line edit-This is probably my least favorite part, but very necessary. I print out the entire MS and have at it.

*Civilian Betas-After all of this, I have a couple of teacher friends that give my ms a read through and let me know their overall thoughts and feelings about details and point out anything else that might need tweaking.

*One last read through-Yes I get a little obsessive compulsive about the details, but I can't help it. Once I get comments from my last round of betas and apply them, I give it another read through. Okay maybe two.

So now you know the insanity my family puts up with when I write. So what little rituals do the rest of you practice when knee deep in the writing process?