What's Your Writing Process?

I love talking about writing process.  It’s always interesting to hear how others suffer or talk about my own suffering.  So lets talk about how you go about your entries.

I know one writer who likes to think about it a while, then write it all out fast.

Last time I did it three ways.  I whipped out Of Cats and Canaries in the first three hours and posted with barely a proofreading.  I stewed over it that night and the next day pecked out Knock Knock.  I then let Knock Knock sit and stewed some more.  Friday morning saw me fixing all kinds of stuff in Knock Knock then whipping out Pride of Place with barely half an hour to go when I submitted it and little more than a spell check.

And all three got nailed for poor plotting.  Sigh.

The thing is, I don’t think it was poor plotting so much as poor characterization that messed me up.  So next time I’m going to try and focus on characters, but still try to get one out fast, one out thoughtfully, and one out any way I can.

What’s your process?

Alice

Oh hey, I thought up a quote today.  How does this sound:

Writing is like juggling 15 items, including two with sharp edges, three that are gooey, and one that is alive, all with an invisible partner.