Hello, everyone!
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I enjoy learning about how someone does something that I do as well. I like watching someone’s process, how they go about thinking and organizing themselves. Is that weird? Well even if it is, I’m guessing I’m not the only one.
So, I thought I would take a step into this world by sharing my writing process with you.
How about we start with my inspiration.
I try to keep an ongoing list of post ideas that I add to whenever an idea pops into my head. These ideas often come from things people have said or things that I’ve observed. I keep this list in my bullet journal as I, more often than not, have it with me.
I’m not going to show you the list (I don’t want to give away surprises), but I promise that there are…wait let me count… 24 ideas currently written down on this particular one. I tend to have a few of these lists hanging around.
I like to use random word generators to give me a spark of inspiration when I’m feeling low on ideas. From time to time, I also look up writing prompts to get me going. Fun fact: that’s actually how the Newspaper Spies series came to be.
Now, creating a way to schedule/organize when posts are going up is a way to help keep up with all the blogging and writing that I do. I tend to post 3-4 pieces a week here on Scribe’s Canvas, and am currently in the process of editing one of my books. Between all this writing and my job, I can get a little overwhelmed if I have to come up with an idea the day before the post due to go live.
It took me a year, but I have finally developed an organizational process that works for me. Yay! Less stress and more time to write!
Here’s July’s Post Schedule, again I’m not showing you October’s because I don’t want to give away anything.
At the beginning of every month, I sit down and plan out what post is going to be published on each day. In July, I was hosting the July’s Daily Word Inspiration Challenge, so there are days that are doubled up. Normally there’s just one post written for the publishing days (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun).
I also color code the posts to show what category/genre they are, this helps me get a quick idea of the balance of Scribe’s Canvas.
I find scheduling by month very helpful. If there’s a post that I really want to do that wasn’t planned for, I can easily find a way to move posts around to make room for it.
It’s also extremely nice to just sit down and know what I need to write about. Since I’ve started planning posts, I’ve become a little better at getting ahead with content; if I have some free time I can start working on a post for later in the month. I hope to continue getting better at this.
When I sit down to write, I often have a cup of tea, my bullet journal (to know what I’m supposed to write) and my glasses with me. I prefer to write on my computer because I am a relativity fast typer, and I like being able to add images and links while I work instead of later on.
I am one of those writers who likes to have music playing. I enjoy listening to soundtracks and instrumental covers. Soundtracks make writing an epic adventure.
Sometimes I find it hard to move that blinking cursor across the screen, but I force myself to start anyway; I can always make it pretty later.
I don’t edit at all until I’m completely finished with the first draft. Once I’m finished with it, I go back and read through what I’ve written correcting as I go. I have the Grammarly extension installed, which helps me with my grammatical mistakes; I’ve never been great with commas.
My writing process has changed quite a lot since I started this blog and I’m glad! I used to become frustrated when I had a blank page in front of me because I could never think of what to write.
Coming up with an easy way to organize my ideas and developing a writing routine has definitely helped me “prime the pump”, as someone special once told me.
Now, I can simply sit down and get to writing.
Until next time,
-Acire
Really appreciated reading through this post. I too find it interesting how people write- the process. One thing I am guilty of is trying to start a post AND edit it at the same time. I’ve heard that it’s not best to, because it involves different parts of your brain, so it leaves you switching back and forth.
Thanks for sharing Acire!
Thanks for reading! I used to try and do that and I’d drive myself crazy.
That is so cool to see how you bring your ideas to the page!
I seemingly have no process. Thank you for sharing, and I am taking a few of your ideas to try to incorporate into my own process 🙂
Thank you for reading! Feel free to incorporate at will 🙂
I admire your approach. I tried using this, because I thought it would work well, and I’d read of other writers’ success with it. It didn’t work for me. I edit as I write, much as I used to paint. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy learning how others work, trying to find more secrets that work for me. Cheers
Everyone’s process is different and everyone has something that works for them. Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t have a “written and stone” process. I generally write late at night until two in the morning. I am trying to turn this around, because I generally don’t feel good during the day if I do that. One place I do a lot of writing is in my massage room. I try to get to work about an hour early–I put my salt rock on, music, and essential oil–frankincense and lavender.
I have also joined an on-line writers group and everybody has dedicated themselves to writing minimum of ten minutes a day–this turns into an hour if I can swing it. Also, depending on the story I am working on, I make little ‘sound tracks’ for the stories. The Three Sisters has lots of Belly Dancing music or Middle Eastern themed music. Also Cello music by Adam Hurst. I drink Jasmine tea, the source of their eternal life. Leather and Lace story has Grace Potter and ZZ Top music. Lace likechocolate chai tea, so I drink that or keep it around to remind me of her. She also makes jewlery. I keep some jewlery pieces similar to what she makes. Her husband Daniel is a tattoo artist and drives a 1945 knuckle head Harley–their story board on Pintrest ha lots of these pins. I use Pintrest like crazy! Most of my stories have a story board on pintrest. And finally, like most writers I keep a note book near by to jot things down. Like you I’always listening to wat people say, how they phrase things, what’s going on with them.
That’s about all. I really enjoyed reading how other write et s create their stories.
I love your process! I love the idea of doing/having things to do with your stories. I’ve never thought of doing that, I might give it a try!
Wow. I find that astonishing as it’s so alien to what I do. I simply wait to ‘see’ or ‘dream’ what’s next – even if I have to correct for time when editing – then write it down. I’m not so much a writer as a transcriber.
I plan nothing; my characters tell me their story. Sometimes I wish I could do what you do.
Thanks for stopping by! My characters tell me the stories too, I just plan out what scene/event I’m going to write.
Thanks for this post- really inspiring and reminds me of how disorganized I am! I really like how organized you are and I think I’m going to try and take a leaf out of your book!
Thank for stopping by and I’m glad you found something helpful in it!
I’d love to see a writing process post regarding your fiction!
Ok 🙂 I’ll try to get one up soon