Diana Gabaldon's Writing Process

What is easy and natural to one person is devilishly impossible to another.

I'm wondering if my writing process will change as I get more experience under my belt. I can't imagine ever plotting every single point (Jeffery Deaver). Any more than I can imagine coming up with a cohesive story allowing myself to just sit and write.

I can, however, identify with her concept of a kernel.

Enjoy.








CR: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I'll want to read this one again at Halloween!

And I recently finished 212 by Alafair Burke. Read this. Between it and Angel's Tip, I have developed a Nutella habit. Thanks, Alafair.

It's all better with friends.

I Solemnly Promise . . .

I had a meltdown yesterday.

Working on a particular section, I needed to confirm something (I can't remember what) and skimmed some upcoming scenes.

Suddenly, it appeared that the character I'd just written about, who was standing up and everything, was in the hospital with a concussion. What!? I panicked. I looked again. Yep. There he was. All banged up and not a doppelganger. Crud.

My rewrites screeched to a halt while I tried to figure out the best way to proceed. Forcing myself to take some kind of action aside from pacing and gibber-jabbing, I sat down to organize a plan. I read through the hard copy carefully and discovered I wasn't whacked, just wicked. My poor character. {evil smile}

The barest of outlines would've saved me so much time and frustration.

Thanks to my new Twitter friend (I cannot call them tweeps), Glynes O'Connell, I was reminded of something I should have paid attention to. I wrote about a wonderful method for putting a manuscript together, and then promptly buried it. Sheesh.

Next time? At the very least, there will be an outline. I swear.

CR: Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

It's all better with friends.