Monday 23 June 2014

My Writing Process



So, I totally suck. I was meant to post this last week, but it entirely slipped my mind. I was tagged by the awesome Michelle Wallace at Writer In Transit. So here I am, posting it anyway ... a week later. I can't really do it properly, either, 'cause I couldn't find people to tag. But I will name the three people I tried to tag, okay? :P

1. What am I working on/writing? Right now I am working on editing my SQUEAKY novel. It's a detective story, but all the characters are animals. Unlike any other edit I've ever done, this one is really a struggle because I am making sure I'm pretty much 100% happy with each chapter before moving on to the next. This is proving to be quite a tedious experience, but I think it will make things easier in the long run.
2. How does my work/writing differ from others in its genre? To be honest, I'm not really familiar with other stories in this genre. Probably because I've never been able to actually pin down which genre it actually is. I know that's meant to be a cardinal sin - not reading within the genre you're writing in - but honestly, the story gripped me and so I wrote it. I have considered the book to be middle grade, but it does have some extreme violence in it. So that has always thrown me. Anyway ... if you have any suggestions for at-times-violent detective stories involving animal characters, let me know. :P
3. Why do I write what I do? The thing is, I write in many genres. So I write a lot of contemporary, a bit of fantasy/sci-fi, and then things like SQUEAKY. And I guess the reason I write so many genres is that I love so many genres, and I am happy to go wherever the next flash of inspiration takes me. I kind of love not knowing what is coming next in this great writing adventure.
4. How does my writing process work? Ummm, I tend to be able to write very quickly. It's the editing part that bogs me down. But I type very fast (last time I tested myself, I clocked in at 125 wpm), and never worry about what I'm actually writing, as long as I'm still having fun with it. I don't really get writer's block. One might say that I do suffer from editor's block. ha. But writer's block is a foreign concept to me. So I definitely thrive during NaNoWriMo and other WriMo events.

Anyway, that's it for my contribution to this blog hop.

And the people I would have tagged if I could were:

16 comments:

  1. I really like the sound of your detective book. It made me think of Niel Gaiman's short story, The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds, about the murder of Humpty Dumpty. Good luck with the editing, right now I'm having trouble getting my first draft down. *le sigh*

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    1. I still haven't read any of Neil Gaiman's books! But they're definitely on my TBR. :)

      Thanks for the comment, and the well wish. :) And good luck with your 1st draft too!

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    2. If you get a chance you should read some of his short stories, they're great and a quick read. Thank you for your comment on my post, and good luck fostering your kittens! They are bags of energy. We only have the two calico kittens, the others in the post belong to a friend of mine and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. :)

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    3. Thanks for the tip, Elise - I'll look out for them on Book Depository ;)

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  2. A never-ending flow of creativity + lots of fun!
    That explains why you have 40-odd stories in various stages of completion.
    Good luck with your editing Trisha!

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    1. Yes, it does, doesn't it? hehe

      Thanks, Michelle. :)

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  3. I've seen a lot more writers finding it hard to pinpoint which genre their book fits into, and I think this is great. Now if only Amazon etc would let us just describe our books as fiction, maybe more readers would give those books a go.

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    1. That would be an interesting world - there would be a whole lot of books in the one category. :)

      I am another who doesn't mind that genres are hard to pinpoint. I think it means there is more experimentation going on out there with writing. :)

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  4. I'd have to say you just created a really unique genre, because I can't think of any other books like it.

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    1. I always suspect that someone might read my story and go, "Duhh, it's this genre", and I will be like, "Oh yeah! duh!" But I just can't think of it myself. :)

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  5. You should be proud you have managed to create something so unique it doesn't have a genre lol!

    My writing process is the exact opposite of yours. I write slow, but my edits happen quite quickly!

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    1. Perhaps ... or else it means my story is fundamentally flawed somehow. haha. Not sure which.

      I guess that's a good thing for you, that once you have something written you won't take long to edit it!

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  6. Your SQUEAKY sounds great. I love the editing part, too, but I self edited for too long this time. Now I have to delete all that perfect writing coz I didn't need those scenes, grr. But we're having fun, aren't we?

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    1. Thanks, Denise. :) It sure was a fun story to write - and the sequel isn't finished, but it was fun as well... and WILL be fun when I pick it back up again. ha.

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  7. SQUEAKY sounds fantastic! I'm a fast writer too. It's all that revising that takes months!

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  8. I'm a total reading tramp. I like to get around the book shelves too.

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!