Originally posted on shondabrock.com
I’ve been tagged by Christa Wojo at My Sweet Delirium to share my writing process with you. My four answers are below and feel free to share your writing process in the comments section.
1. What are you working on now?
Several projects are floating around my messy desk and in my overloaded brain.
The main project that lives with me every second of the day is the third and final installment to Eternal Traces. I’ve completed the outline. I know the direction/voice of the book and what I’m most proud of is that I’ve actually started writing. I’ve completed the first three chapters.
The second project is the business of marketing the first two books Eternal Traces and Eternal Burns. That project lives with me in my spare time and becomes extra annoying at the end of the month when bills are due or when I’m occurring new expenses for writing.
I wish marketing were as easy as standing on the corner of a busy intersection, holding up a huge sign that states, “I’m a writer! Please stop and buy my book! Tooting your horn is nice, but I prefer you to purchase the darn book and tell two friends you loved it and they should buy it too. Better yet, why don’t you buy the two extra books and I’ll give you a discount.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way; hence project two, a business plan.
In my spare, spare time I write short blogs for my website and as a guest for fellow writers.
2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?
That’s an interesting yet tricky question. I’m not sure due to my newness in the industry, but I believe there is a new sub genre. In the past, my genre would be solely Paranormal Romance, but now there’s a new sub genre called Multicultural. I believe my work falls more into that category. Not that I’m excluding the traditional Paranormal Romance reader. Rather, I prefer to think, I’m adding more readers because my characters reflect more of what our society looks like. Who doesn’t enjoy reading about characters that look like them?
Now within my genre, without sounding vain, especially after reading about my marketing idea with the huge sign, I like to think my books have a touch of the Scandal feel and I always weave a new destination within the storyline. I want my readers to feel like they been on a trip and they’ve learned an interesting hidden fact once they’ve finished reading my novel.
3. Why do I write?
I love to write because I’m free to explore. I can change my sex and my ethnicity. I can change time periods. I can change the seasons without Mother Nature’s permission. It’s the closest feeling to being omnificent!
I’m not saying everything I write is grade A awesome, but when the stars are lined up with Orion’s Belt and I’m truly inspired, it becomes magical.
It’s the magic that brings the reader away from their world and into mine. For that short duration I have the reader believing in the “What If’s”.
4. What is my process for writing?
That question is similar to asking a clinically diagnosed delusional person, “How does your brain work?”
Normally I have a clear beginning and I pretty good idea of the ending in mind. From there I will outline the story. With this knowledge I start to develop the characters and how I plan to introduce them into the storyline. That is the basic bone structure and from there comes the story.
My true inspiration that places me in the zone, where the magic occurs usually comes from music. I love music as much as I love writing and reading. I find inspiration in the rhythmic beats and in the lyrics. Every intense moment you find in my books or short blogs comes directly from a song. If you want to have some fun, try and guess the genre of music or ‘Name that song’ I was listening to when I wrote that scene.
Well, that wraps it all up. Now you know I’m truly delusional and I have to admit, “I’m darn proud of it.” But please lets keep this between us. I still have much to accomplish and they, meaning the Man, might lock me away, hidden behind legal paperwork on the 5th floor of a psychiatric hospital before I can finish.
Remember to Stay Inspired and open your mind to the “What If’s” of the world.
Feel free to join the Writing Process Blog Hop. Just answer the same four questions and pass it along!
Get a bloody taste of my Multicultural Paranormal Romance. Read the first chapter of ETERNAL TRACES.
Don’t forget to enter my open-genre flash fiction contest.
Open till 8/24/2015.
450 words
No entry fee
$100 prize!
Shonda Brock Paranormal Romance Author 