The Writing Process

Hey y'all!

I feel as if I should be connecting with my readers on a more personal level, so be prepared for these little blog posts to be info dumps about my life, writing process, and so much more. And please, if there's any questions you've been dying to ask, ask them! I'd love to answer whatever you may want to know!

...but if you're looking for sneak peeks into current WIP's and spoilers...apply to be a Street Team member and you may just get that VIP access you were searching for 👀

Now, moving on.

If you saw my latest Intagram post, then you already have a little inside scoop to how my stories come to life, but let's break it down a little more. The Lost Prince ironically came to me in a dream one night. My poor husband was woken abruptly when I shook the poor man to death, rambling on about a guy going missing for ten years and his best friend, who happens to be a woman, goes on a manhunt to find him. The look I got almost tops the same look I got when I woke him up from a dead sleep to tell him I was pregnant. Pure gold. From there, it spiraled. Not down, but upwards. I spent the following weeks hunched over like a little gremlin with a fuzzy blanket over my head, a coffee in one hand and the other flying across my keyboard as I got to work pouring all the thoughts in my head into my notes. By the end of it all, I had sticky notes covering every wall in my office with character profiles, locations, a hand-drawn map, and every little detail I could muster.

Most writers plot out their novels with chapter outlines, inciting incident and all that professional jumble. Personally, I've tried that method and it all fell apart. My mind emptied and I was left standing there with my mouth hanging open (think Patrick Star thinking just a tad too hard)

Me trying to plot out my book properly

So, I opted for another method after quickly discovering that plotting everything out was not for me. Now, this may sound abolsutely wild, but hear me out! I let the characters do the talking...

I know, I know. Psycho right? WRONG. I started writing with the basic that I had and soon enough, it was like the characters were telling me how it was going to go down, and I honestly couldn't be happier about it. Some of the things that transpired wasn't in the orginal plan for the book, but once they popped in my head and written down, I was thrilled. The characters helped pull the story into the masterpiece it turned out to be in the end. On top of them 'telling' me where to go, I had a curated playlist on a loop in my headset while I wrote. The songs helped push the story along and drew out raw emotions that I guess I had suppressing for a while now.

The writing became more than just a story to tell. It became my story. It was cathartic and healing. It changed my perceptive on my struggles and the life I have lived. I walked away from each book more grateful than the last.

My only hope is that one day, my writing touches someone else in this world in the way that it's touched me. I hope whoever picks my books up with the intent of escaping reality for a little while feels that release and heals from whatever darkness lay inside them.

When you think you're alone and there's no light to the darkness, just remember to look up at the stars. Someone somewhere is aching for the opporutnity to meet you. You're someone's sun on a cloudy day.

Much love,

JCS