It's been a few months since I completed my second story and started on my new project, Within These Walls. I remember going into it with the mindset that I'd do things differently this time around: plot out the story first chapter by chapter, to see if that would be better than winging most of it (besides basic yet concrete ideas about the plot, characters and setting).
I'm now halfway through this new project and while I still don't know if it would be
better, it's definitely harder than I thought it would be, for one main reason.
My plotting process just doesn't work that way. I've found it impossible to sit in front of a blank page and come up with things on the spot. In fact, I get most of my ideas in the most unlikely and often inopportune times and places.
 |
| Friend: "...and I'm on the verge of losing my job and my neighbor ran over my cat...hey, are you even listening?" |
And I think that's okay. Everyone has their own way of going about the process, because we all have different things that drive and hinder us. Some people prefer to work in the quiet, others need to be around crowds to get their brain going. Some people like to read a lot, others try to block it all out and focus on their work alone. Some people rely on articles containing writing tips, others find that it hurts them more than helps them.
The most important thing is to know what works for you and what you feel most comfortable with. If you think you write best sitting on a bench at a noisy street corner, wearing your lucky pinwheel hat while humming the theme song to MASH, then you go right ahead and churn out that bestseller.
