My Writing Process From Idea To Finished Book
I would say that my writing process is a little unconventional. Most authors follow a strict day-to-day process that consists of brainstorming, aka the prewriting stage. Next, there’s the drafting stage, which is writing what comes to mind. Some call it the “messy” version. Next is the revising stage. This stage is going back, reading the draft, making changes, tightening it up, moving paragraphs around, deleting paragraphs, and restructuring. And finally, editing, which entails going through the manuscript and making corrections (that you catch) before giving it to an editor. I have a day-to-day process that begins about an hour after I get up and will end eight to twelve hours later. I say that my process is a little unconventional, though, because even though I follow the stages listed above, I do the prewriting stage and drafting stage a little differently.
When I brainstorm, I first run different scenarios in my head before any ideas are put on paper. This entails thinking about what my story will be about, how the characters will be portrayed, and what message I want it to convey. Once my brain gets going and I have come up with some solid ideas, I begin to write down those ideas. Then, I read through what I have written, which usually sparks more ideas that I can turn into a story, or it sparks a “what the heck am I thinking?” and I scrap it and begin again. My brainstorming can take a day or hours, and my brain is constantly thinking up ideas until I have finally decided on one. I have even gotten into bed, thought up an idea, got back up, wrote it down, and addressed it again in the morning.
Once I know I have a good story with a good message, I begin writing. This process seems to take me a long time, even though I am writing a children’s book that consists of short paragraphs and 32 pages from cover to cover! And we all know that the story begins several pages in! Good stories with good messages can’t be rushed, though, right? And, as a self-publisher, you set your own deadlines, so I could take forever if I really wanted to. The book, then, may never get published, but you get my point! I’m sure, from all of the research I have done in the last three years (and counting) about writing children’s books, I am not taking a long time. It just feels that way. You also do not want to rush the process, because at the end of the day, the goal is to have a professionally looking published book. Once I begin writing, I am constantly stopping, rereading, and carefully thinking about how the characters and the story itself are sounding. If I don’t like it, I usually change it right then and there. I do not wait until the revising stage. I have also been known to write the story, revise the story, and then shred the story and begin again! One might think that’s a little excessive, but the few times I have done this, I have thought up a better one. So, I kind of do two revising stages; one as I am writing/drafting, and one as the actual revising stage itself. Then, the other stages fall into place.
Don’t think for one second that you have to follow each stage exactly. It is, however, important to follow the stages, but my point is that the way you do it might be slightly different than another author. Again, the important thing to remember is that the end goal is to create a beautifully written children’s book that you can be proud of and know that the hard work and hours upon hours of doing everything that goes into writing a children’s book will be out there for the world to see.
Once the final stage has been completed, the manuscript is edited by someone else; corrections are made once the manuscript has been returned to me, and then the book is ready to be published. Of course, this is the short version! There are many other things that have to be accomplished during these stages, obviously, before a manuscript is ready for publication. But, for the writing process itself, those five stages mentioned above, will be an important guide to get you on your way to a published children’s book.
