Obligatory Writing Process Breakdown
This can be my obligatory, ‘My Writing Process’. Well, more so my current writing process circa 2026, because a lot can change every couple of years. Like any styles it has it pros and cons:
Getting the idea
This doesn't have a set thing. Some of my ideas come from my dreams. Others come from when I people watch, when I’m half-asleep, or a lot more recently the vast majority come to me while I’m at work. There is a pattern I noticed with each method.
Dreams - I have very vivid dreams that I remember well when I wake up. In my dreams there is a whole world that exists where I have adventures of the mundane. Like going to the beach, but the beach floods, the vendors are off putting, or it’s night time and it feels off. In one dream someone followed my car from the beach to my house after I had to gather my stuff that had scattered across the sand. I have locations that have overarching themes, I know what will happen if I end up there. If I’m at my grandma’s house the issue will be my car gets stolen and I have to go get it, or the man who lives in her tree and will try to come in sometimes, or flooding or someone breaking in. It makes me concerned about the life dream me is living.
People Watching - I will blame this on my over consumption of true crime and mystery podcasts. When I see some people around, I’m always thinking, “Are they a killer?” “What’s in the trunk of their car?” “What secrets are they hiding?” I usually people watch with my mom, and we’ll theorize what people have going on. My favorite is going to parks, because I will see a woman carrying all the bags with the children in a stroller and improper shoes for a long walk. She usually looks hot and frustrated. And if there is a man with her, he’s hanging back, enjoying himself and taking in the park. My mom likes to say to that, “Well she’s going to stab him one day.” And I agree. Then afterwards, I start to think of our perception of their dynamic, what could be going on behind closed doors.
Half-Asleep- Entire novels that would be the next best thing, only to be vaguely remembered.
Work- Honestly more people watching, and sitting at a desk staring at the screen. It’s great to pretend to work, while thinking of literally anything else while clicking through emails. Or, when I have to do a boring project, I take mental breaks to jot down notes.
Cultivating
Once I write an idea, some of them will remain little odd thoughts scattered in a lot of notebooks. Which is way more than I thought when I started to finally transpose them into Google Docs. There were so many odd sentences that made no sense and I don’t remember writing them. Like, “Organs up for grabs in Terms & Conditions.” What? Well, actually not, that could be something one day, maybe not. For the ideas that stay little thoughts, I start to write little things.
Nothing big, just a paragraph, or a possible ending. Then repeat a couple times, all the while asking, “What is this? What is it going to be?” Then a main character starts to form, and the piece has a voice. And I’ll go back and write with that character as the focus. The main downside is that they often don’t have names. I’m really bad at naming people. I forgot to mention, all of this is written in a notebook. I write all of my planning because my fingers can keep up with my mind in a way that typing can’t. If they ever invent something that can transpose thoughts and not scramble the brain….game changer right there. Until then, I write hurriedly to the point that I will struggle later to read my own writing. Then after a while, I will have about ten pages of notes, scenes, and a strong sense of satisfaction.
First Draft
This one is hard. Because I know I have to read my shit loopy writing. I write in half cursive, half print, but when I’m taken by an idea, it’s cursive that I have trouble reading back. Now, I need to type exactly what I wrote onto a document. I do my best to make as few changes as possible. I want to fully capture what I wrote. This can take a while, at least three or four sessions (usually during my lunch hour). If I’m lucky, I can enter a weird headspace where I can type as fast as my eyes are looking at the page. Then, afterwards I have a massive lump of text and notes all in one place.
After that, I’ll just leave it alone for a few days. Simply because I don’t want to look at it. I prepare myself mentally and open the document again.
The first thing I do is reformat everything, again I’m not fixing any grammar, the red and yellow bars from Grammarly are ignored. Once it’s formatted, then I’ll start from the beginning and work my way through the text, fleshing out scenes, finishing thoughts, and as I do that ideas will expand. I just let my mind go wherever and try to not confine myself to what’s on the page. If the OG handwritten scene doesn’t work, I’ll write a whole new one, and fix the continuity as I continue to work. After about a week or two of this, or longer if nothing is meshing, I have my first draft.
Editing/Sharing
I have always struggled to do edits, so at this point I grab one of my friends, usually Josie and have her read it over and give notes. This is a hard step simply because I have to answer her questions of “What does that mean?” “Did you mean that?” “Is there another way you want to say that?” My first creative writing class helped me get out of my mind when it came to critiques. People don’t live in my mind, and I do have a tendency to phrase things weirdly. They’ll make sense to me, but don’t read well to other people. So, always have eyes independent of yours looking over your work. You don’t have to take every criticism or question, but don’t ignore them ever. Then, you seem like a dick, and why did you ask for help? I really appreciate Josie for this step, and a lot of my ideas would be nonsensical gibbering without her. She’ll even read this blog post to help me get it right. And one day, I’ll be able to pay her.
Final Changes
This is pretty boring and straight forward. I make the recommended changes and make sure there is consistency between ideas. Then, repeat Step 4 until I feel confident in the work. Before I had a website, the story would be shelved until further notice. Now, at the end it goes on my website. Also, somewhere in here I make the cover sheet in Canva. I’ve learned that the simpler the better. I’m a maximalist, but that doesn’t translate well to book covers.
Published
I’m done, now I just put it on my website and let my family know.
So, there we are. This is my process as of 2026. I love how with writing how everyone has different processes, but all get to the same place of having a complete piece. It’s pretty cool. Have a nice day!
