Writing Process Blog Tour - My Turn!

WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR

Jackie over at her blog tagged me and now it's my turn!

Jessica Walsh - Author profile:
My life is a flurry of writing, art and creativity. You can usually find me reading a book, scribbling notes in a notebook for future creations, typing on a laptop with music blaring in my ears or buried in my basement watching documentaries and sitting behind a sewing machine.
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and have boxes of old notebooks in horrible handwriting to prove it. Only recently have I stumbled back into writing and finishing my ideas.
Seeking the Storyteller is the first novel I’ve published; with my partner in crime and life, Briana Lawrence. I also write horror, fantasy, supernatural and occasionally romance pieces which I am currently shopping around through contests and publishers.

Here's a little information about my writing process:

1) What am I working on?
Currently I just finished the first draft of a story that's been swimming around in my head since high school.  Inspired by the random creativeness of myself and my friends during our high school time, Key to the Beginning is a story about the beginning of a change and the end of our world as we know it. I'm just not stepping into the editing stages and I hope to have it ready to submit to my publisher in the next couple months.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
By far my favorite genre is Urban Supernatural and it's quite the challenge to take supernatural creatures and make them fit in our world and our culture.  You have to create a logic behind these creatures for why other people haven't noticed them until now and I think I've pretty much gotten a handle on that.  My real specialty though is creating cultures and creatures with a much realistic detail as possible.  This is where my studies in Anthropology, World Religion and Mythology really come in handy.

3) Why do I write what I do?
I write because there are muses in the back of my head that are constantly creating stories.  Unique characters, story lines and creepy plot twists are leaking out of my head and I have to write them down, or I get restless.  I'm serious, it is basically a need for me.  The hard part is weaving them into stories that resemble these stunning worlds in my head so that others can understand and see them.

4) How does my writing process work?
My writing almost always starts with a dream, hearing a song, or something in normal life that sticks in my mind and just won't go away.  I have a book to record things like that and I usually let the idea fester in the back of my mind for a couple months until it becomes more coherent and I can expand on it.

When I start writing I don't always have a plot, but I at least have a few characters defined and an idea of where I want them to go.  Sometimes I don't start writing until I have the full plot, but in most cases I start writing and let the story drive itself and decide where it wants to go.  By the time I'm 2/3rds of the way through, I usually have an ending in mind and work to wrap it all up.  My stories almost never actually end where I originally intended and the characters always seem to grow a life of their own.

If I ever get stuck, I have a handful of really good friends who I can sit down and explain the story to.  As I'm telling it, I'm usually able to talk myself out of the writers block and keep the story moving, so explaining it helps all the time.

Thanks for stopping by.  The week of April 28, stop by the following writers' blogs to learn their writing process. 

Briana Lawrence:  
My partner and coauthor for Seeking the Storyteller, Briana is the one who reminded me how much I loved writing and that I wanted to be published.  She has a handful of books under her belt ranging from gay romance to mystery to supernatural horror.  Her books have strong female characters, imaginative creatures and characters that will stick in your mind like real people.

Her published works include Double Hue, Treat Me Kindly, Press Start to Play and more coming soon!

You can find her blog here!

Nathan Anderson:  
A good friend of mine since before middle school, Nate has been a support in my writing forever.  He's recently started going after publishing his own stories and I'm sure you will hear more from him in the future.  In the meantime he has a blog with movie reviews  ^__^

You can find his blog here!