Mistakes, I've made a few

Mistakes. Trial and error. Frustration. When you first start out, they're all part of discovering how you write, and working out what it is YOU need to do in order to get the words down on the page.

There are so many different ways to approach the writing of a novel; it can be quite daunting to work out how to start when you're a newbie writer. What helped me figure out the "how" that works for me was to search out other writers' (published and unpublished) accounts of how they wrote, and stow away whatever tips they gave out, shiny new tools for my writer's tool box.

Now I've reached the stage where, after much trial and error, I know how I write; and in the spirit of repaying all those writers for revealing their secrets, this is my little manual of how I write. No "rules"; just what works for me.

A Space to Call My Own

This is where I write. Excuse the mess - but it's my mess, on my desk, in the only corner of the house that is mine, all mine!! I'm free to gunk it up with my research books and the snowdrift of notes I make to myself and my half-drunk cups of tea, with no one to complain. It's also a psychological thing - once I'm at this desk, I am WRITING. Nothing else.

Oh, and meet my supervisor:

Tex the cat, who spends his days following the sun patches around the study while I write (and yes, he has no whiskers; they were gnawed off by his sister when they were kittens and they never grew back. He's a bit of a freak, but we love him ... except when he insists on sitting on my lap while I write. Not good for the neck, that.)

A Straight Line

Unlike Jen and Kristen, the confirmed chunksters, I now know I can only write in a straight line. No chunking for this little black duck. I move from scene to scene, in sequential order, because that's how I see them, that's how they come to me. That said, I do occasionally get flashes of inspiration for scenes further down the track; when that happens, I write a quick and dirty sketch of what I see, save it, and get back to business. I know others are bored knowing what comes next; I find it exciting to know there's a really great scene coming up, just waiting for me to write it - it's like dangling a carrot!

And while I sometimes think the genre I write - suspense - is what makes me write in a straight line (you just have to have your clues and misdirections meticulously lined up so it all works) honestly, it's just how my brain is wired.

A Map

An outline, in other words. I tried launching into my book by merrily writing whatever came to me - and ended up writing 70,000 words of back story that will never see the light of day. But I don't regret it; trial and error is then name of the game when you're working out how you write (though it would have been nice if I'd worked this out a little sooner!) So, once I'd nuked my 70k, I sat down and wrote an outline, and now it's full steam ahead. I find that having a general idea of where I'm going helps to keep the plot straight in my head, as well as the development of my characters. But I DO NOT stick to my outline like glue; just this week I discovered one of my characters has a certain secret which has sent my story off on a very different path to what I'd outlined. C'est la vie!

Make Windows

For me, this has been the most important thing I've learned. I have to make widows - of time, that is.

Like everyone, I'm busy. Three kids, a husband, a cat, a house, will do that to a person. I used to think I needed big chunks of uninterrupted time in order to write, and would get steaming mad when I couldn't find it. Then I realised I was wrong - I didn't need to find the time, I had to make the time. If I didn't make the time, this book would never get written.

Once I worked this out, I suddenly found loads of time - all be it in short snatches of five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour here and there, but still, it was time. When my youngest kid still napped during the day, I'd dash up to the study and start pounding the keyboard as soon as her head hit the pillow, not stopping for anything until she woke up. She also slept well in the car, so I'd leave early to pick up my sons from school, find a park beneath a shady tree and grab half an hour's writing time while she napped in her car seat. These days, with all the kids at school, I do have more time, but still, I stick to what I've learned - when it's time to write I ignore the housework, I screen my calls, I ignore the door bell, I unplug the modem and the distraction of the internet ... all these little steps are vital if I am to make - and protect - those windows of time where I do nothing but glue my butt to my chair and just write.

So, there you have it. That's how I write.

And, because I'll always be curious about how others churn out the words, what has your own journey taught you about how you write?