I have great pleasure in welcoming the talented Monika Pardon to the page, author of Golden. She's kindly sharing with us a blog post with the inner workings of her crafting process. Enjoy!
My Process!
I write for myself. I love stories and since my imagination always
runs wild, I have a lot to write about. When I get a story into my head, I sit
down and outline. I sometimes write character notes. I write down the most
important scenes on Post-Its and stick them in my notebook so that if something
needs to be changed it’s an easy fix. Then I sit down and go for it. Sometimes
I get a little shy and worried that I might be going too far. These are the
times when I get stuck, but recently I was told that just going for it is the
best way. Besides things change during the editing process.
Let me break everything down a little more for you. Okay,
when I get a story idea, I write as much down as possible. Then I sit down with
all these elements and piece them together. I can see my characters in my mind
and I can see what their story is. For me as the writer, I’m trying to tell it
the best way possible. This is where I outline everything in a notebook. There
are always elements that come to me later or that I choose not to add to the
outline. These go onto Post-Its. I place them on the chapter page that I think
it might fit. If it doesn’t, I can move them to a different part of the story
or ditch the idea all together. Then I sit down and write the story. I do get
stuck on one part even though I try my hardest to keep going. That’s when I
look at what I have and play with it to see why I’m stuck. Generally, this gets
me going again until I’ve finished the initial copy.
Now it’s editing time. Writing a novel is like pottery. Your
initial draft of your story is like a lump of clay. Editing is like shaping
that piece of clay into something interesting and beautiful.
When I start to edit, I go through, looking at the characters
to make sure they are consistent through the story. A lot of meat of the story
usually gets added in during this edit. Then I give it to my beta readers who
love to mark up the manuscript. I highly recommend beta readers; people who you
can trust to tell you the truth and praise the good points. I go through their
notes and fix whatever they found. Sometimes I don’t take their advice, but
generally I do since they have read the story with fresh eyes and have no
emotional ties to this book (well until the end when I get an ear full about
how I must hate them for keeping them in suspense). Once everything is changed,
I give it to my editors and they go through it. When I get it back, I make the
changes that need to be made. Now you don’t have to make all the changes they
suggest, but you should definitely be open to what they are suggesting. After I
finished all the changes that my editors and I have discussed, I give it back
to my beta readers to look it over one more time, then it goes back to the
editors. Anything that was missed is fixed and then it’s off to the
printers.
And that’s my writing process. I know, it’s a lot but in the
end when the story shines and your characters come to life between the pages,
it’s SO worth it!
'Golden' Synopsis
With her long golden hair and tragic run-in with three impossibly large
bears in a remote cabin, seventeen-year-old Sonora Martin is a modern
day Goldilocks. Yet her life is no happy, romantic fairy tale. Instead
she finds herself thrust into a dark magical world of the fae and shape
shifters and questions who she can trust.
After the sudden death
of her grandmother, Sonora is forced to live with an aunt that she
barely knows, her cousin, and Luke, her aunt's reluctant boyfriend. A
fight with her aunt sends Sonora running into the woods where she
inadvertently learns a web of family secrets and of a startlingly pact
for revenge with her as the target. Now with the help of a pair of
unlikely allies Sonora must travel to the Shadow Realm in search of a
way to survive.
Stalker Links:
Purchase Links for Golden:
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / B&N
Comments
Post a Comment
We love to read your comments, so please always feel free to share your thoughts with us. Thank you!