My Writing Process: A Blog Tour

Hey everyone! A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be contacted by the lovely Jackie Cangro to see if I would participate in a blog tour about my writing process. Of course I said yes. I am so glad I was introduced to Jackie and her blog, because I've found it very entertaining and inspiring.

The blog tour involves answering four questions, so here goes.

1. What are you working on?

So, I'm one of those nervous, superstitious writers that lacks the confidence to talk about what I'm writing in too much detail before it's done. I worry that if I say too much, the spark will die. But I will say this. I am working on another YA novel about a 16 year old girl named Gertrude. She is staying with her dog-breeder aunt for the summer and trying to figure out some very, very strange goings-on. I'm a little over half way done, I'm hoping to finish by the end of summer.

2. How does your work differ from others' work in the same genre?

Oh boy :) Genre has always been a hard one for me. What I generally write tends to be not quite contemporary and not quite paranormal. Usually I write ordinary people who have to figure out something wacky and quite extraordinary. I like writing somewhat quiet, obedient characters who have to find something deep inside themselves to deal with crazy circumstances that came about through no fault of there own. I like to write about sibling relationships, and how a loved ones trials and struggles can be even harder to deal and grapple with than one's own.

3. Why do you write what you do?

I really like writing normal, ordinary characters having to deal with abnormal things. I think its a fun, interesting way to explore human strength and resilience, and what that really looks like. I think there are a lot of great, wonderful characters who grow and progress through learning from their own mistakes, but I really enjoy writing characters who just want to be good and glide through under the radar but then have to very quickly find their own inner courage and identity to deal with something completely crazy and incomprehensible that the universe has thrown there way. Thinking of stories in this way also helps me with plots, because a character having to take steps to deal with whatever crazy thing has happened is what moves the story along.

4. How does your writing process work?

Man, I could write like three separate blog posts on this. So I asked my roommate what my writing process was, and this is basically what she said.

"When you are ready to start a novel, you think of a thing that makes your brain excited and something you want to say. You spend 3-5 months flailing and having angst about how to turn this idea into a thing. You have several nights when you stay awake until 3 am because your brain won't leave you alone. Those nights mean your idea is good. There is lots of this:

until something finally clicks and you figure out how to put this thing into a story. Then you work on a short outline and then when you're ready to start, you GO. And you write every day until its done and then you send it to your smart friends and there is more flailing about the responses your getting and then you submit and then its time to start over again."

So yeah. In the words of my roommate, that's my process :)

Thanks again to Jackie for inviting me to participate in this blog hop! Hope this is helpful!

Sarah Allen