Gena Showalter on writing discipline

Today we have a very special guest blogger: USA Today and New York Times Besteselling Author Gena Showalter!

Apologies to Gena. I was supposed to post this last week and got so wrapped up in wedding stuff that it didn’t happen. And now, away we go:

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As Diana gears for her wedding and I fear for my life if I don’t write what I’ve been promising her for weeks – okay months – I decided it was time. She will cut me if I don’t! So here we go. . . Every book I write nowadays is bigger than the last it seems. More pages, more words, more plot, more characters, just more story period. My deadlines haven’t changed, though. They are still staring me down with glowing red eyes, and those eyes are multiplying constantly as revisions, line edits, copy edits and galleys arrive for other books while I’m working on the rough draft of another.

How do I meet those deadlines? We won’t talk about the wine, the chocolate or the insomnia. Let’s talk about process. When I sit down to start a rough draft, I usually have the germ of an idea or a single character in mind. I’ll use the sequel to Playing With Fire, Twice as Hot, as my example because it’s freshest in my mind.

The time to begin TAH had arrived. All I knew was that my publisher wanted me to continue the story with Belle, the heroine of PWF, so I had Belle and her hero Rome in mind. That’s it. I began typing and what emerged was a scene with Belle and her best friend Sherridan talking frankly. Sometimes, what I write as the first chapter doesn’t end up being the first chapter. Sometimes I have to cut it, as was the case with The Darkest Kiss. I had to cut 25 pages.

I write what my mind first shows me, though, whether I end up using it or not because it is a starting ground. It gives me an idea for the next scene. Within Belle and Sherridan’s conversation, I learned that Belle was having trouble planning her wedding (yours will go smoothly, Diana!) and that Rome was missing, no one had heard from him. Suddenly, I had a starting point for the next scene: Belle trying to find out what happened to Rome. From there, Belle learned something that led her into the next scene. Then someone did something that led into the next. And so on.

I type the entire book singled spaced (it’s easier for my mind to consider writing 200 pages rather than 400). I write at least 5 single spaced pages every day, as well as write the very beginning of the next scene so that I’m ready to go when I sit down the next morning. Sometimes this takes me a few hours. Sometimes it takes me all damn day and evening. But at 5 pages a day — which is 25 in 5 days – at 5 days a week, you can have the rough draft done in 4 – 6 weeks. Not bad!

That doesn’t mean the book is done, just the rough draft. Writing that fast, it’s easy to leave things out, decide to change plot/back-story mid-way and so on. But once I’ve written the rough draft, I have a clear idea of plot and characters, so I start reading and revising accordingly from the beginning, layering everything I missed the first go round.

And there you have it. My process! How do you conquer that rough draft?

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Yes, my wedding went very smoothly. thanks for asking. And also, thanks so much for the kick in th pants. I needed to hear that about writing discipline today!

And keep a lookout for Gena’s next Alien Huntress Book, Savor Me Slowly. Is that a rocking cover or what? I’ve loved all the alien huntress books, and I’m so looking forward to reading this one!