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Everybody’s process is different. I’m of the opinion that if you’re taking words from your head and making them visible to others—whether you allow others to see them or not—it’s your process. It works for you because hey, words! Sometimes it doesn’t work for you so you try a different process. Finding your process is an experience: it’s a series of continuous trial and error because not only does each writer’s process slightly differ from everyone else’s, the process that works for one story may not work for others. You might need different sounds, scents, or scenery around you to keep yourself inspired. Every piece changes the writer and the way that writer writes. I destroyed my process on this detective story. I hacked it up with a plastic butter knife. I burned half the pieces and buried the rest at sea. My process is a void where words used to be and it’s all because I reread what I had and rolled my eyes so hard I gave myself a headache. Yeah, it was that bad. I’m grieving the loss of inspiration but I’m not sad about making the decision to cut what I had. I discovered that I wrote myself into an inescapable corner. For the story to continue, everything that happened so far had to go. The writing process is its own adventure and I desperately need the escape. I’m so deep into analytical brain right now, I’m convinced my creativity is weeping in the murky recesses. Though I know I won’t have time, I’m really looking forward to the open Mock Events we’ll have next weekend and the weekend after. Event announcements usually inspire me to create even when I’m so tired I lose the capacity to sit upright. Because they’re so fast-paced, the writing process reveals itself along the way and pushes writers forward to the deadline whether they’re emotionally ready to submit or not. I accept that my process was wrong for this detective story. Now I get to experiment and find a new way to write this world. I’ll try different music, another journal, a new ink and fountain pen combination—maybe I’ll type the first draft this time. Perhaps the corner I found is my subconscious letting me know I’m not a pantser; I need an outline. And so, the process begins again. Fiction projects: 1 Fiction words this week: -4500 WW hours worked: 57.5
About the author: Theresa Green is the co-founder of The Writer's Workout and a crime fiction writer.