The Writing Process

Courtesy of piovasco

One of the things that interests me the most in writing, is how different and individual each writer's process is. Talk to enough people, and similar groupings and patters emerge, but I haven't yet met any writers that write a novel exactly the same way.

Some of the different approaches include:

• plotting vs pantsing (or free writing or writing from the hip)
• writing linearly vs writing scenes out of order and patching them together
• writing by word count vs a certain amount of time
• using a word processor vs writing software
• writing on a set schedule vs writing whenever lightning strikes
• needing music or sound vs needing silence

And a whole host of other things, most of them small, and many unique to that particular writer.

But one of the most fascinating things, to me, is the difference in the "What comes first--the character or the plot?"

While most of my writing process happens in my sub-conscious (meaning I have no idea how things happen--only that they do), I have learned certain things. Immutable laws (for me), if you will.

1) I am not a plotter. I believe there is much good in trying out different ways of writing. One of the greatest benefits to experimenting is discovering something that clicks perfectly with how your brain processes Story. I've tried a lot of things, and it's been very educational--whether or not they work for me--because doing so allows me to peel back another layer to see Story from a slightly different perspective. 

I have learned that I can loosely plot a series, but if I try to plot a novel, my sub-conscious can, and will, lie to me. That's right. I can come up with some pretty awesome stuff that invariably ends up not working with the story or the characters. At all.

2) No character, no story.

It's the second one that I've been thinking a lot about right now. I've found that, for me personally, I can't sit down and write a story without having a character tackle me first. Because, for me, there is no Story without the characters.

Does that mean I write character-driven novels?

Not necessarily.

For me, character and plot aren't completely separate entities. Rather, they are two points on a continuum. Some stories will lean closer to the character side, while others will lean nearer to the plot end.

But they all start out the same way: a character looks at me from the back of my brain. Most of the time I get a sense of what the character looks like, but not always. Some are also a lot more talkative and easier to work with than others.

But they all have a problem. Sometimes that problem is on a bigger scale, driven by outside forces. And sometimes the Story happens *because* of something the character did. Or said. Or stole. And they want me to help them fix it. (Or, at the very least, escape. :p)

So, for me, the plot rises out of the characters every single time.

But I know there are people for whom this works, only in the reverse. They come up with an interesting premise that might have been sparked by a question or an idea. Only after they have the foundation laid out, are they able to people the plot.

Does that mean they write plot-driven novels?

Not necessarily.

In fact, there have been a number times I've been surprised to learn that a character-driven story had not only been plotted out, but that the plot came first.

Which opens up all kinds of delicious things to speculate both about characters and plot and how they ultimately (in the finished product) connect to the Story and each other.

How do they connect for you? Are you a character first type of writer, or can you only find the Story if you have a plot laid out. Or are you somewhere in between?

Danyelle Leafty| @danyelleleafty writes YA and MG fantasy. From March 12th-31st, she will be donating royalties from both paper and digital copies of THE FAIRY GODMOTHER DILEMMA: CATSPELL to purchase Kindle Fires for a pediatric unit in a local hospital. Click here if you'd like to learn more.