My Writing Process

Are you looking for a simple writing process? Maybe you are just curious as to what I used when writing my latest novel?

I am definitely on the beginner end of the writing spectrum, but I did come up with a couple methods that really helped me stay organized and keep my writing flow going. Check out these ideas and methods to help in your writing. Stay tuned until the end to find a FREE DOWNLOAD of my storyboarding template.

Combating Writer’s Block

If you’re like me, there are times when you are writing that you just stare blankly into space, wondering how you’re going to start that next sentence. It may take hours for you to come up with the perfect wording. Or maybe you just get plain old stuck!

Here are a few tips that I used to combat writer’s block and to keep my mental juices flowing.

Listen to music. Listening to music is one of my favorite ways to, not only combat writer’s block, but to also find inspiration when starting from scratch. Listening to some of my favorite songs is what gave me the original inspiration for my debut novel, The Summer That Dried My Tears. Just pick a genre or put it on shuffle and let the music take you places.

Ambiance and Environment. Your surroundings and workspace can have a huge affect on your writing ability. I found that I really needed to analyze my workspace and tweak certain things to promote writing and creativity. I also worked best in the dark, so I’d work mostly at night or in a dark room with a single, dim light.

I also found that I couldn’t work when other people were in the house, there were just too many distractions. Playing music softly in the background helped at times and I even changed my computer background to a whimsical forest scene to get me in the mood and mindset.

The biggest tip here is to find how you work best and amplify those things that make you excel.

Storyboarding

When I first started my novel, I didn’t use any notes. As I got more into it, I used some chicken scratch and by the time I was a third of the way, I started to implement my own storyboarding technique.

I’m a very visual person, so I needed to get some of my ideas for scenes and the timeline out of my head and onto paper. In my method, I would list the scenes or important events I wanted to occur in the next several chapters. Then, I would put them in a logical order in each chapter.

I started out just writing these by hand on paper, but since then, I have created an easy to use template to print and fill in. It’s less sloppy this way. Plus, this is a super simple, single page to refer back to when you’re writing!

I made the below template pretty foolproof, however, I recommend writing in pencil!

Obviously, I just used placeholder text to show you how I did the storyboarding. You will fill this in with much more detail.

On the listing side, simply list your scenes or events of your book. That can be anything from a conversation you want the characters to have to a big moment. Then, number the events in a chronological sequence that makes sense. Writing in pencil here helps if you decide to switch up the order.

Next, using your numbering, fill in each heading with your events or scene names and then fill in details in the boxes underneath. I used these as chapters too because I had about one major event or scene per chapter, but you can use them as just scenes with details as well.

Want to grab a free copy of my writing process template? Just enter your email below, hit send, and the download link will be underneath. It’s that simple!