So now what? The Book: Part 3!
by Joey | Sep 17, 2014 | Writing |
I didn’t know where to start. Â I’m a little embarrassed to admit that to you since, you know, I graduated with a degree in Creative Writing. Â But here’s the thing. Â I don’t think there’s any right way to start the process. Â I think you have to figure out what works best for you.
Before I did anything, I asked for help.  I operate fairly well under self inflicted deadline, but this was too important to me.  I didn’t want to let myself down but that was a possibility. But I knew myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t let someone else down.
So I asked for an accountability partner. Zoe, my childhood best friend turned school friend (no, that had no impact on the story line, I promise), volunteered on Facebook.
I made a soft schedule and emailed it to her.  She was to expect a new chapter from me by 11:59pm on Sunday evenings.
That was the scariest part for me.
Putting that deadline on myself.
Because I knew there was no backing out
without embarrassing myself.
Without failing.
Let me make this clear.  I was working 40+ hours a week and planning a wedding.
A chapter a week. Â Seemed fair enough to me. Â The way my major operated was we were pretty much responsible for 10+ page short stories weekly on top of our other classes. Â I did my best to treat it like that.
The number one question I get in regard to the book is: how did you come up with the story.
Confession: I didn’t.
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Not right away, at least.
Hold on. Â I’m getting ahead of myself. Â How about I tell you how I started, and then fill you in on the rest as I get to it. Â Sound good? Â Okay, let’s get into it.
First I created Willow Point.  I got a general idea of what the town looked like.  I named the town (by hosting a poll on facebook!  I had several contenders which unfortunately I can’t remember anymore, but Willow Point won)!  I drew a map.  I got a general sense of where my characters, who I hadn’t created yet, would live.  As I did this, little ideas started to come to me.  Restaurants.  Misty Lake park.  And that’s when I decided my two main characters would live across the street from each other.
Then I made my cast.  This took a while.  A good while.  I knew I wanted a nice girl, who was going to be my main character.  I knew that I wanted her best friend to be totally different from her.  And I knew I wanted a mean girl.  The rest of the cast just kind of came to me as I was developing Annie, Laurie and Olivia.  I had a whole character tree, it was embarrassing honestly.  I tried to get to know them as best I could.  There are several characters who either never made it in, or didn’t make the final edits.  Yes, I deleted entire people.  The editing process is cut throat y’all!
It was as I developed the characters that the story started to come to me little by little. Â This will sound crazy, but it was always their story–so it only made sense that they would help me figure it out. Â Once I got a pretty good sense of who my characters were…
I started writing. I’d sit down with a vague idea–like the first chapter I knew there was going to be a bon fire.  That was it.  And with each chapter, I’d take where I left off and propel forward in a general direction.  The story would happen as I wrote.  I had no specific ideas.  I had no idea what would happen.  I had no idea how it would end.
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So that’s how I got started. Â But we are still leaps and bounds from where it all ended up. Â Stay tuned!
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Reading out the writing process is awesome. Can't wait for the next installment!
How interesting! I love hearing about your process!
OMG this is so interesting! Thanks for sharing, I always wondered how people write books, I don't think I could ever do it!
I love hearing about your writing process! It's fascinating. I especially like the idea of having an accountability partner- I could use that in my life, even though I'm not writing a book.
xo Julie
I find this entire writing process so interesting! I would have no clue how to start a book, but I know as I read books I get totally entangled in the characters and I feel like I am there with them…so I think if i were in your position writing….the characters would come to life and help me write too!
This is awesome! I love knowing the little backstage secrets of how stuff is made! It's so interesting to me that you didn't have the ideas until you were already started! Also, writing a book and planning a wedding??!?!!? You're so brave!
It's so great to get inside of the mind of a writer. It feels like we're being let in on some big secret. Thanks for sharing!
Anytime I've tried to write, I've started with the setting and researched it and after I get that nailed down, I've totally lost interest. It's never quite worked out lol. Looking forward to reading more!
Great tips! I think doing that schedule would be great to actually challenge yourself and get it accomplished.Thanks for sharing!
XO Chloe
A Latte Lipstick
This is so cool!! And so impressive that you managed to start a book while working 40+ hours AND planning a wedding 🙂