I always get stumped when others ask me, what is your writing process? Why? Because honestly, I’m not sure I have a process. I sometimes feel more like someone who just has this crazy idea out of nowhere that drives me crazy. It could be just that I wish they would make a story like this and then my crazy imagination goes off on a tangent of the main character would be perfect like this and so on. And then the story kind of tells itself. At least until I finish it, then I go back and make magic happen. I say magic, but what I really mean is tons of un-fun editing.
Stories, in written form always have come easy for me. Since I was a little girl, I would fall asleep to a story that I dreamed up inside my head or I would sneak a light in the night as I finished a new book obsession. I would like to say I always wanted to be a writer, but that’s not true. I wanted to an artist and a teacher. It wasn’t until I decided to start putting the stories that were in my head down on paper and bravely had someone read- and they didn’t hate it, that I finally found my passion. This was finally the creative outlet I had been searching for.
For those of us that are creative, it’s almost like a need. I have to create, I have to make things- stories, or paintings. Otherwise, I am would probably go crazy! Or maybe I am and I don’t realize it. Either way that was how I found my love of writing. All of the beauty I hind inside my head began to stream out onto my computer as if there was finally a sigh of relief. I have found what I truly was meant to do in this life.
So, no I don’t have a particular style. I follow the story and the characters journey. I record it, and I let them reveal to me what they want as the story unfolds. Then I go back and make it something people want to read. Hopefully, people actually like. So far so good. I do in my stories prefer strong female leads. I lean towards my stories having a romance in the story, but at the same time I don’t want my characters to be reliant on their love interest in the thank you for saving me with your love kind of way. I like my female characters to just choose love, and maybe even save the guy for once. I also like to find out what my readers like and try to write (using also the things I love) and try to incorporate them into my writing.
If you read my first book, Acceptance you will notice that they all have super natural powers they have to learn to use and come to terms with. Sometimes their powers even create tragic events unintentionally. The reason for this is I am a huge fan of Marvel. Since I was a child and before it was cool to be a comic nerd, I was toting around Marvel, DC and Top Cow comics. My most prized possessions are a Wizard signed by Chris Claremont and my photo with Stan Lee. I’m still fangirl-in' all over it.
Yet, we can’t be successful floating around on a whim with our fan girl (or boy) loves and sheer luck. So, I have for the production of book three incorporated a lot of Derek Murphy’s tips for writing from his Dot Plot, which can be found on his website creativindie.com. And I think it is helping to focus the book more and leading up to a nice epic battle, that even I’m looking forward to! But the characters in my crazy head are still driving the bus and at times scaring the shit out of me in the process! I’ll let you be the judge of if it ends well. J