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 it.
Step 3a. If necessary, repeat Step 3 with a different story idea until I have something I know I can work with. (That’s what happened with this flash fiction piece. It also happened last time I wrote flash fiction–I did several stories with the same parameters, and ended up selling two of them.)
Step 4. Editing time! Here’s where I go through the draft and strip out anything extraneous–all those extra ideas that didn’t end up tying back to whatever the central concept ended up being. (This time around, my flash fiction story went from 346 words to 267. Why yes, there were extraneous ideas in there, even at that length.)
Step 5. More editing! This is when I add back in anything that’s missing–maybe something that needs to be added for the story to make sense, a detail early on to set up something later, maybe an extra scene or a different ending (this sort of thing might actually happen in Step 4), or extra bits of description or interior thoughts/narration to make the story more effective. There might be yet more research as I fill in bits that I skipped over the first time. I write pretty clean prose even in first draft, but this is the stage where it gets finessed. (This time around, the flash fiction story went back up to almost 300 words.)
Step 6. Run the story past a reader–maybe my critique group, or my spouse, or one of the other Turtleduck authors, depending.
Step 7. Edit some more! It takes practice to filter through reader comments and decide which ones will make the story better AND closer to the story you were trying to tell. How much do you need to change the story? There’s no surefire way to know!
Step 8. Repeat steps 4-7 as needed.
Step 9. You’re done! Hahaha, not really, now it’s on to the publishing and marketing process, which is usually a whole ‘nother set of steps (yes, even if you’re self-publishing).
Step 10. NOW you’re done. Except not really. Go back to Step 1 and start again! Possibly while you’re still in the middle of the process with the first story!
Did you notice that each of those steps requires a different set of skills and a different part of the brain? Yeah. If you watch a film about a writer, chances are that a lot of time will be spent on Step 1 (or Step 0: Writer’s Block, which can be reached from any of the other steps) and Step 3, maybe a bit on Step 6, and almost none on the rest. Unfortunately, Hollywood is wrong and all the steps are important. Lucky thing writers are so smart and multitalented… *grins*
If you’re a writer, what’s your process?