My Writing Process
So last time I talked about how writing wasn’t fun anymore. I’m still working on that problem, most recently by writing flash fiction (very very short stories). Just the other day, I finally submitted a flash fiction story that I’m happy with. Even though it’s less than 300 words, my process for that story was kind of a microcosm of my process for longer stories as well. So I thought I’d share… Step 1. Decide on a concept to write about. In this case, I was writing something to submit to a themed anthology with some specific parameters. I’ve done that before with some success–even if I don’t end up submitting to the particular anthology that sparked the idea, it helps kick-start my brain. Other times, I’ve started with a one-line “what if” idea. Step 2. Brainstorm several different stories based on that initial concept. This stage often involves research. The idea here is that whatever I come up with first is probably also what other writers will think of first, so I need to keep brainstorming until I find something more interesting or unusual. Step 3. Write an exploratory draft based on one of those story ideas, with more research as needed. At short-story length, I don’t outline much (if it’s flash fiction, not at all). I just throw a bunch of ideas on the page and see what sticks. By the end of the draft, I’ll have a clearer idea of what I was trying to do with…