Skip to main content

Writing the First Draft: Pantster Style

Today I am starting a blog series about my process from the first draft to the last draft. I've been going through this process for the last few months and so its all very fresh in my mind.

Step 1: The Spark of an Idea

 
That moment of perfection when you come up with the most brilliant idea of all time and you are just so hyped about the whole thing. I start a pinterest board, spend hours pinning to the board, still having no clue of the plot, and coming up with character names and settings.

  Step 2: THE BEGINNING

At the beginning I manage to stay focused and rush through the first few chapters like a madwoman, my fingers flying, my heart pounding, and characters having a blast. There's the inciting incident, my character starts to get into a few small problems, I get to introduce my other lovely secondary characters. My most favorite part of the beginning is usually when I get to introduce the love interest and if I'm lucky I get to write a scene with the protagonist and love interest.

Step 3: The Start of the Dreaded Middle


Some writers have a hard time with this part but I rush through the entryway to Act 2 pretty quick while starting to slow down. At this point my creative engines start to lose steam.

Step 4: Oh My Gosh! What? No, You Can't Do That. This Is So Hard. Why Do I Do This To Myself? No! Don't Kiss Him!

My creative engine is breaking down and my characters have a mind of their own now. I am no longer in charge of the story, my protagonist and love interest and every other person in my story is now in charge and pushing me around to do what they want.

Step 5: The Big Twist (Or The Thing I Didn't Know Was Going to Happen) But You Still Feel Awesome For Thinking This Up

By the middle of the middle of my story my character's are all taking turns driving the car and almost crashing into everything imaginable. Something blows up, a character dies without permission, she kisses that one guy she's not supposed to, or runs off without telling anyone (including me) where she's going. Yet you still feel awesome that you came up with this plot twist that makes the book worth writing.

Step 6: The Ranting/Groaning Stage Where I Babble to Friends and Family About Why I Do This To Myself and How My Character's Aren't Cooperating


This would be the muddy middle where everything drags and my writing is sucky and horrible and I'm racked with self doubt about why I even thought this was a good idea or story. The feels are taking over and numbing me inside and out. All I want to do is curl up in a ball and do nothing but ignore my laptop.

Step 7: Running Like a Maniac To The End Without Stopping

But then I see the light in the distance. I'm finally out of the darkness and the ending is coming. The feels at the end take effect and you get all excited and want to scream and jump up and down but instead stay glued to your laptop for hours rushing to the end. There's that epic climax with lots of bad stuff, your character is in despair and you love it. She kisses the love interest Finally! and you can't be happier.

Step 8: THE END


Writing that last page, that last sentence makes your heart explode and your reading to have that mental breakdown now. Cry, laugh, scream, jump or do all of that at once because guess what??!! You finished the book!

Step 9: The Rewards and The Relaxation


You sit and congratulate yourself with cookies and candy and binge watching your favorite TV show and reading that book you've been dying to read for weeks.

                    Are you a Plotter, Pantster, or something in-between??

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cover Reveal: Golden Touch!!

 Happy Tuesday!!  Today's the day! I turn 23 and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than to share the cover for Golden Touch! I think this is by far my favorite cover my mom has ever done. It's crazy to think that this time last year Golden Touch was still just a first draft and I was in the middle of writing book 2 of the series. A defining part of my twenty-second year will always be having revised Golden Touch and written almost the entire Archive Series. And now I get to open up my twenty-third year with sharing the cover and writing book the first draft of book 5, the very last book in the series. God is so good guys. I really think He gave me Golden Touch and this whole series a few months before the events of 2020 started. He gave me a story I could get lost in, I could find joy in even during some of the hardest times of the year. And now I get to share the cover and I get to close out the series and I just pray and hope that God will use Golden Touch and...

March-May Wrap Up!

 Happy Tuesday!  So I had a March/April blog post all written out and forgot to post it! So here's a March-May recap! How has the last three months gone for you? March ended up being a really good month. I turned 25 and had a really great birthday I got to hang out with friends, watch some new shows and am almost done with the Throne of Glass series. April and May have also been really good months for me. God's blessed me in so many amazing ways over the past three months.  I feel bad that this blog has fallen so to the wayside for me. I used to post every week and be so excited and now I just really struggle to keep this updated. I'm starting to think it might be time to let this blog post unless I somehow get renewed motivation/inspiration for it.  March-May Writing:  March was a very good writing month. I just reached 65K in Immortal Circus #3, and despite a few small hiccups, it's been flowing really well. I'm enjoying getting to draft a book after spending ...

How to Write A Survivalist Character During The Apocalypse

Hello friends! It's been a while... The last two weeks have been kind of nuts. The entire world is freaking out, everything's been turned upside down. Last week was rough... I had wanted to write out a birthday blog post and do something special on here for turning 22, but then everything happened and I was too stressed and I forgot to write anything, so that's kind of a bummer. I guess I could do it this week, but I feel like something else is needed for this week. I was thinking I should write some meaningful, hope-filled blog post. Write about what's going on in the world... but then I realized, everyone is already doing that. Social media is saturated with hope-filled positivity. And don't get me wrong, that's great! It's needed right now. To be honest though, Sunday night and into Monday I was getting pretty fed up with all the positivity. I think I was just overwhelmed and stressed, but I got pretty bitter and told my mom I was sick of hearing all th...