Starting Out

1. I first learned story structure through writing my first four screenplays.

2. Before I wrote novels I wanted to write and direct movies. I turned to writing novels because I realised my screenplays would end up in an archive somewhere and less likely to be made into a movie.

Ideas

3. I start the story creation process off with characters first. A ‘what if?’ scenario develops out of this initial character development stage. This leads me to brainstorm plot ideas.

4. I start brainstorming my story ideas in Evernote. Once I’ve got a synopsis which is more like a rough outline of the major scenes in the story, I open excel and start the outlining process.

Outlining

5. This is a little embarrassing but I’m sharing it, anyway. I love excel and I do an extensive outline in excel listing every scene, location, and character POV. I even have a foreshadowing column.

6. As you may have guessed I love outlining. This is by far the most creative part of the writing process. For me, the first draft is all about getting the novel out of my head and onto the page and then perfecting it.

First Draft

7. I write in scenes not chapters. Dividing my books into chapters is the last step in my revision process before handing my manuscript to a developmental editor.

8. I like to play a scene over in my mind before I write it.

9. Before I start writing a scene, I write notes and outline the scene. I need to know how a scene starts and ends. This helps me to avoid writer’s block and procrastination. This isn’t a technique I adopted from the start. It’s something I added because I was struggling to finish the first draft of Immunity.

10. I love writing in Close Third Person because it places an emphasis on showing instead of telling and characterisation.

11. I like to focus on more than just visuals when setting the scene. I also like to describe sound and smell to enhance the reader experience.

12. I’m not a fan of using dialogue tags unless it’s to show a character’s physical reaction or if there is more than two people in a conversation. I guess this is a habit that originates from screenwriting.

Writing Habits

13. Over time, I’ve grown accustomed to writing in complete silence with no music.

14. The most words I’ve ever written was 10,000 in 8 hours of writing and it was for Immunity. I was behind in my daily writing habit, so I devoted an entire day to writing. I had scenes all planned out and a strong outline. All I had to do was sit and write.

Revision

15. Revision and rewriting is where I struggle. I often fall into the trap of being stuck and putting it off until tomorrow or the day after. This is the reason I want to become a morning person and revise my writing first before any other tasks.

16. When revising my work, I take notes, then I listen to my computer read the scene back before I revise a scene. This technique isn’t for the faint hearted, but it helps you to spot the places in your story that need work.

My Novels

17. I tried to pants my first novel, but I didn’t get past chapter three. Even as a pantser I still had a one or two sentence outline per chapter.

18. My first novel was in the women’s fiction or ‘chick lit’ genre. I wanted to be like Sophie Kinsella.

19. The best time for me to write is after 4:00 pm. I struggle to write first thing in the morning, but I aim to become a morning person for productivity reasons because it’s important to get your most important tasks done first.

20. My James Lalonde series is an open ended series. I haven’t planned a certain number of books. I plan to continue writing the series as long as there is a reader demand for it.

21. I’m also in the early stages of creating a new series. It’s a fantasy series about a wizard who accidentally summons a modern woman back in time to a time of magic, dragons, and Medieval England overrun by the saxons. The series will consists of five books and has an arthurian legend meets outlander feel to it. It’s not about King Arthur and the knights of the round table, but it’s similar in concept. At the moment, I’m slowly fleshing out the story arc of the books.

Programmes and Publishing

22. I haven’t touched Microsoft word since the day I first open scrivener.

23. When I’m writing my first draft, I like to write in 20 minute sprints using Chris Fox’s app for IOS, 5,000 words per hour. I take breaks after I finish a scene but not before.

24. I suffer from a serious case of ‘shiny object syndrome.’ I have so many ideas about other genres I want to write in, including fantasy. Over the years, I’ve become a little more disciplined and I keep these ideas in a separate notebook on Evernote.

25. I chose to self publish because I wanted more creating control and don’t like seeking permission to publish. It’s a personality thing.

Thank you for watching, reading, commenting and sharing with such enthusiasm.

Your coach,

Amelia xx