The Writing Process I’ve Landed On (4 Books Later)
Much like a morning routine, a writing process is often viewed aspirationally rather than practically. People think if they can just do the “right” things in the “right” order, as deemed by the “right” gurus, then they can save themselves the pain of figuring out life for themselves.
This, frankly, is bullshit.
I’m a raging perfectionist, so this has been gut-wrenching to learn, but nothing will ever replace experimenting to identify what works best for you and making that as repeatable as you can.
That said, I also understand the frustrations of feeling lost and unsure of yourself. You may not trust your instincts or have no idea how to get started, how to push through obstacles, and how to finish the damn book.
So here’s what I have found works best for me while writing a 4-book series. Every author and even every manuscript is different, so your mileage may vary, but if sharing my writing process behind the scenes can help you on your creative journey, then I hope this breakdown gives you the motivation you need to make. it. happen.
My Writing Process, From Planning to Polishing
I’ll caveat this post by saying that I have yet to publish my series of Silicon Valley rom-coms, but I am actively working on four novels and preparing to debut them to the world.
Once I have that experience underneath me, I’ll write follow-up insights on publication and promotion, but until then, let’s talk about everything that needs to happen before you make your books available for purchase.
Here is my writing process through all three major stages: planning, drafting, and revising.
Planning
On the plotter-to-pantser spectrum, I am definitely a plotter. Because I tend to write slower, I prefer to do more work upfront to save myself a ton of headaches come revision time.
This stage usually takes me a couple of weeks, and it all starts with a story spreadsheet. Thanks to several worksheets from my editor Kristen Tate at the Blue Garret, I create at least four tabs:
One to identify the book’s theme by drilling down what the story is really about and why anyone would care to read it. Nobody likes to be explicitly told “the moral of the story,” but if you’re going to hunker down for months or years to write a book, you should at least know why you’re doing it!
Two to flesh out the book’s characters. The first of which is a profile of all the major players (for romance, that’s the love interests, and oftentimes the antagonist) and their demographics, beliefs, personalities, and backstories. The second then develops their emotional arcs from beginning to end so I can determine how they’re going to evolve and what they will learn along the way.
One to plot out the story beats and brainstorm a list of potential scenes. Most successful genre fiction follows a similar narrative structure, and I use beat sheets from Save the Cat and Romancing the Beat to outline the major plot points of each manuscript.
While I’m planning, I also love getting inspired with some preliminary research. I typically read comparative titles and watch movies, documentaries, and interviews on the topic I’m covering.
I’ve gone down the rabbit hole on everything from rock climbing in Yosemite to cooking vegan alternatives to my favorite Armenian foods. It’s so much fun to experience the world you’re about to inhabit for the first time, and out of all the stages of writing a novel, planning is the only one I truly enjoy.
That may sound blasphemous to say, but I readily admit that I get more satisfaction from having written than the actual act of writing. What’s about to come is the real work, but for a brief moment, you get to dream. And that feels like magic every time.
Drafting
Ah, the grind, the hustle, the slog. What Stephen King lovingly referred to as “shovel-[ing] shit from a sitting position.” As a writer, you will rarely feel that lightning bolt of inspiration, and you still have to crank out tens of thousands of words because books don’t write themselves.
(And in the world of exploitative AI “art,” we wouldn’t want them to, anyway.)
This stage to complete a first draft has taken as long as three years for my first novel and as fast as 13 weeks for my third. It doesn’t get exponentially faster with each manuscript, considering it’s taken me six months and counting on book #4, but the rhythm becomes more comfortable. I trust that I can finish the book I’m currently writing because I now have a track record of finishing the ones that came before.
My goal is to draft two books each year, so I aim to write 15,000 words per month for five months to meet the genre expectation of at least 75,000 words for a contemporary romance novel.
I draft in Scrivener, dividing each chapter so I can keep a better eye on my progress. I also use Jessica Brody’s fast draft tracker, which is a spreadsheet where I input my daily word count, broken down by words per hour (WPH) and whether I’m on track to meet my completion date.
As for pushing myself across the finish line, here are my top tips:
Use a timer to write in short sprints without stopping. I like using the Pomodoro method of 25-minute sessions followed by 5-minute social media breaks.
Resist the urge to do research during this stage by writing yourself placeholders and notes, like [NOTE: figure out what kind of car she drives], and then force yourself to move on. That’s a problem for future-you to tackle!
If the thought of staring at a blank screen intimidates you or you cannot resist the siren call of online distraction, write longhand. Yes, like with an actual pencil and paper. On one hand, it will be double the work to type out your story, but on the other, it’s better than not having a story at all because you’re too addicted to checking your email or watching TikTok. And I’m speaking from experience, so no judgment here!
Revising
Alright, this stage is what I consider the home stretch. It technically takes me about two months, but it feels faster because I’m not alone in this process.
After I complete a first draft, I export it from Scrivener into Microsoft Word. I will fix any glaring issues and fill in all those placeholders I left myself during the drafting stage.
(This is when present-me calls past-me a real pain in the ass lol)
You could call this initial pass my “second” draft, but honestly the revision stage is so fluid that I simply re-save my file each day with the latest date in the document name so I can remember what version I’m working with and keep a backup of my revision history.
Once the Word document is clean enough for outside eyes, I send my manuscript to my editor and a group of critique partners. People are busy with their own lives, so I give myself a month-long break while I wait for feedback to roll in.
In the meantime, I build out the query package so I’m ready to submit the manuscript to literary agents, as well as start planning my next project.
When I’ve received all the feedback, I synthesize it and create a revision plan. This is a kanban board I create in Asana that has columns for edits in the first 50 pages (especially important for querying) and in the rest of the manuscript.
Each card on the board will designate the change I need to make, which chapter it’s in, and whether the edit will be easy, medium, or hard. This helps me determine how long it will take to complete the specific edit.
After I’ve tackled all the cards in the revision plan, I then complete separate rounds of line-by-line copyediting and proofreading for spelling and grammatical errors. At this point, I’m ready to start querying agents, but when I make the decision to pivot to self-publishing, I will likely pay for more professional editing during these rounds as well.
Ideally, the level of detail I’ve achieved in the planning stage enables my first drafts to be cleaner and require less intensive revisions. You can tinker on a manuscript forever if you’re not careful, and at some point, you just have to call it done!
The Proof Is in the Process
Your writing process will never be perfect, but it does help tremendously if you nail a set of repeatable steps that can get your story from idea to execution.
I’ve experimented with different writing software, switched up my workplace settings, tried transcribing my voice, and read a ton about productivity, but I will choose consistency over quality every time. I don’t need my sentences to be groundbreaking—I just need to get them on the page, day after day after day.
Everybody likes to say that you should focus on the journey, not the destination, and for someone so obsessed with external validation, I hate to admit it’s true. If writing is a miserable burden, you should stop immediately and explore how you can hold your words more lightly and fall in love with them again.
Writing is directly correlated to my mental health. When I go too long without storytelling, I become irritable, hopeless, and severely depressed. Without a creative outlet, I feel like a cog in a wheel and don’t find life worth living.
To circle back around to morning routines, many folks find it therapeutic to wake up early to meditate or make themselves a fancy cup of espresso. It makes their days brighter and their lives better.
Writing, for me, is self-care. And while I’m not saying my particular writing process will work for you, discovering how to make your art a consistent part of your life is the greatest gift you can give yourself.
So go write down some words, in whatever way works for you, as a little treat.
And if you’d like updates on how my novels are going, I’d be honored if you subscribed. If we take the journey together, arriving at our destination will be all the more fun.