Blogfest 2009

It depends on the book, but since I’m on a tight schedule with my series work, I have a kind of system that works for me. The first thing I do in the morning is read over and edit the scenes/chapters I wrote the day before. This helps me wake up my brain, reminds me of where I am and where I’m supposed to go next, and gives me time to punch up what I’ve already written. Then I jump into the scenes I’m supposed to write that day and read those over the following morning and so on . . . . Once the entire first draft is done, I leave it alone for a few days to give my brain time to refresh, then I read it all over again as one with a clear head and a fresh eye. At this stage I often end up moving scenes around, deleting or adding, because I realize something is missing or that the story is repetitive or confusing. Once that draft is done (I call it my “final first”), it goes to my editor and he or she makes comments. Then I work on it again and send it back. Usually, that’s the last time I see it, unless there are a final few questions to answer. I try to be as clean as I possibly can with my earlier drafts because we don’t have a lot of time between starting the book and publishing it. That’s just the way the series thing works! When I’m working on a book that has a bit more time built in, there are usually a couple more drafts between the first final and the final final, but generally the process is the same. I usually go with my first instincts and don’t give myself a whole lot of room for second-guessing, or re-plotting, because if I did I’d probably drive myself crazy and never get anything done.