Over at Terribleminds, Chuck put the question to everyone, what does your writing process look like?
It was a timely question for me, because my writing process has only really solidified into something routine in the past few months. Everyone does this writing thing differently, and reading some of the other responses has been fascinating.
Anyhow, here’s my writing process. Please let me know yours in the comments!
My process?
Well… from the moment I wake up (before I put oon my maake-uppp) I get in front of my PC. It’s a full on gaming rig, so firing up MS word is a bit like heading to the office in a tank. This is happening at anywhere from 6am to 7.30am.
First I check my emails to see if any of the Day Job projects I’m working on have killed anybody (hasn’t happened thus far. WINNING), and then I get a giant R2D2 mug of tea with two teabags.
If I’m currently writing I aim for a word count of 400 words.
If editing I try to tackle one scene, defined as GOAL>CONFLICT>DISASTER, or one sequel, defined as REACTION>DILEMMA>DECISION.
If I need to work on outlining because something no longer makes sense I do that instead, taking my notes by pen, MS Word comment function, or in a file entitled CHANGES.
If I’ve got a nicely edited second draft I write a long synopsis dividing the whole thing into scenes, and use this exercise to work out what gets cut, changed or abbreviated.
After all that I inflict it on mum. Repeat previous steps until this low hurdle is cleared, then planning to seek beta readers.
This whole elephant gets eaten in tiny bites, as my ten month old baby gemul (monster in Korean) might wake up any time crying for food, nappies and hugs. The onslaught of cute ends when she nods off, and by that time I need to heed the call of the Day Job…
So once again, what does your writing process look like?
Best regards,
D.R.Sylvester
D.R.SYLVESTER FICTION 
I have the same mug! (Best mug ever.) My process is a bit helter-skelter at the moment, but I tend to work best at night, when the house is quiet. Right now I’m in the editing stages, so I try to edit one chapter at a time. I might try your technique of doing a scene-by-scene synopsis…
Absolutely! I want to get the other mugs in the series (there’s a heap of them) but I just don’t have the cupboard space in this tiny townhouse (I suppose I could fling out a few wedding gifts…)
I also work best at nights after everyone is asleep, but I think I’d get fired if I started using that time for anything other than the dreaded Day Job (caps deliberate, should probably be in ALLCAPS). Also, when I used to write at night I’d sometimes go days without writing, and the stress / guilt was eating away my stomach. So early mornings it is! My baby is a great alarm clock if the electronic one fails ;D
Good luck with the editing stages, I think they’re the hardest (and the most rewarding, since everything awesome seems to come to focus through successive rewrites). The synopsis idea is a bit loopy, but I rant about it in detail here: https://drsylvesterfiction.com/2015/02/27/why-writing-your-synopsis-in-excel-is-excellent/
Hope this helps! 🙂