I’m sure you know that I am an indie author. As such I often get asked about things to do with the self-publishing process. I thought it would be nice to have a regular writer’s corner in my newsletter. I don’t profess to be an expert but I’m happy to talk about my writing processes and the issues I’ve found around self-publishing over the last fifteen months. If you have a question about any aspect of writing or self-publishing feel free to email me or message me through Twitter or Facebook.

I recently got asked what my writing process for a book was. Wow, that’s a big question!

I had a think and I can already see how my process has changed since my first book. This is my forth now and I am beginning to learn more about myself and what works for me. Since my second book, I have taken to writing down bullet points when I edit. This is so I don’t miss any important plot points or questions I want to answer with the next book.

Before I start writing the book, I try and do a rough plan and organise where these plot points should fit. This is obviously fluid depending on how the writing goes and where the characters take me. I make my way through the first draft without doing much editing.

I write over my breaks and lunch at work and then late at night, from 8pm to about midnight depending on how tired I am or how much life stuff I have to juggle. Sometimes I just want to be with my family too:)

Because of these fairly short periods of time writing, I find I tend to repeat plot points, phrases and words. I try and catch them on my first pass through but will always do at least three read throughs and edits. When I’m fairly happy with the flow of the story, I will send for a Beta read. This is an extremely important part of the writing process and something I might do a separate post on in the future. I will work on the suggestions and edits from the beta read then do at least another two or three read throughs.

At this point I usually need my editor’s help as I can’t see the wood for the trees. Once she has sent me back the manuscript, I work on any rewrites and line edits she suggests. I will then do another read through and send out to my ARC readers. If they comment on any copy edits before I have had the story formatted or uploaded to the sales platforms, I will correct them then I press that publish button…whew!

It’s a long process to write a book and get it in as good a shape as possible for publication, but it is achievable. If you need someone to encourage you or want to do a writing sprint on Twitter anytime just tag me and if I can join you, I will.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Feel free to email/message me your questions or comments. Here’s my mailing list sign up if you’d like to join in.