The most important thing I’ve learned about my writing process is that my process doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. There are adages I’ve heard on repeat that just don’t work for me. Things like: writers must write every single day. That doesn’t work for me. I write in bursts—intense bursts, but bursts none the less. Turns out I mull a lot of the story in my head before I ever put pen to paper. This is not to say I don’t pay attention to what other writers do. I absolutely pay attention! I’m a writing manual junkie, especially when searching for inspiration. Stephen King’s On Writing; Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird; and Ursula Le Guin’s Steering the Craft are but a few of my favorites*, but none is one-hundred percent my process. That’s why I read so many. I pick up tips here and there, then reshape it all into what works for me.
The second most important thing I’ve learned is to keep a running bibliography of sources. This is a skill I learned in high school, that I further refined in college and graduate school. I’ve done it for so long it’s become habit. Now, writing historical fiction, I find the training invaluable.
*If you are interested in books I’ve found helpful, please email me.