My Writing Process Blog Tour

Hi everyone! Today I'm participating in the My Writing Process Blog Tour. My friend, co-writer, crit partner, and publishing sister (whew, enough titles, huh?) Jen Malone tagged me. So here goes...how I write:

1) What am I working on?

Three books. Four, if you count edits on DON'T FALL DOWN. Am I crazy? Possibly. All three are middle grade contemporary. One is the book I'm co-writing with Jen, one is in the revising/rewriting stage, and the third is a brand-new shiny!

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Middle grade contemporary is a HUGE genre. My work definitely falls into the fun and light end of the spectrum. If you were looking a table of food, my books would be the chocolate chip cookies. I find humor in everyday life, and I try to inject some of that into my writing.

3) Why do I write what I do?

It's what came out when I started writing! Seriously, I sat down at my computer one day in the law school library, and instead of working on an outline for Business Law or Constitutional Law class, I started typing a story. I had no idea then that I was writing middle grade. I didn't even know what middle grade was. There was a story in my head, and I had to get it out. Since then, I've figured out why I write MG -- it falls into that age group when I fell in love with reading. From ages 8 to 12, I was always reading. I read anything and everything -- contemporary, historical, fantasy, mysteries, choose-your-own-adventure, classics, adventure, series. Pretty much anything I could get my hands on at the library. So writing for this age group as an adult brings back those memories of escaping into a story. Basically, it makes me feel happy. :)

4) How does my writing process work?
I'm an early-morning writer. From 5 a.m. (or sometimes 5:09 or 5:18, depending on how many times I hit the snooze button) until 6:30ish, I write. If I'm on a deadline or on a roll, I'll write in the evenings or during kidlet naptime on the weekends. Also, I write first drafts Nanowrimo-style. I throw it all out there as fast as I can. I don't reread until I hit the end of the first draft. Even if I change a plot halfway through the book, I keep writing until I'm finished. This works for me, even though it means I usually have to do some massive revisions afterward. Because once I have a first draft, I have a complete book, which is something to work with. Even if working with it means deleting entire sections of the book and rewriting... *sigh*


And that's it! Have a great April Fool's Day!