Inside Elana: Writing

Okay, so I've decided to dedicate a few posts in the near future to, well, me. But not really me. But I'm going to let you inside my writing cave so you can see how I write, revise, edit, blog, whatever.

Now, every person's process is different. What works for me will most likely not work for you (I mean, seriously. What I do should only be attempted by professional stunt men). But I think maybe you'll see something I do that you might want to try, or that you do too. Or maybe not. I guess we'll see! (Or maybe you'll just realize that I'm not that special--flawed even--and that if I can write and publish a book, then you can too!)

Up today: Writing.

And by writing, I mean the first draft. The first time you put words on the page. What you need to know about me before we start:
1. I type about 90 - 110 words per minute. (Don't be a hater.)
2. I never turn off my internal editor. (Ever.)

So with those disclaimers out of the way, I'll let you in on how fresh words go down at my house.

Sometimes I have a scene in my head. If so, this is how the writing goes:
1. I open the WiP. I begin typing the scene at the end of the WiP document. Order matters not.

2. I put little brackety things (yes, technical term) before the misplaced scene like: [GUNN AND RAINE FLYING, THURSDAY NIGHT] and at the end like: [END OF CHAPTER? MAYBE ANOTHER SCENE, CHECK CH. LENGTH]. These brackety things get highlighted in yellow. (I will admit that I generally only write out of order for the first 80 - 100 pages. After that, everything is sewn together and I can write linearly to the end. Sometimes. Right now? Not so much.)

3. I write myself some notes for what might come next or before. These are long and rambling and full of ??? and capital letters. Notes get highlighted also, usually in blue.

4. I read over the new words I've just written, allowing the Internal Editor to have her way with them.

5. I save the WiP and go watch TV. If I have a scene in my head, I can crank out about 2000 words in an hour.

Seriously. That's how I do it.

If I don't have a scene in my head, writing goes something like this:
1. I open the WiP. I go back about 15 pages and read. I edit as mercilessly as possible as I go. Sometimes I add words to clarify. I delete. I evaluate word choice. I add/remove details. I let the Internal Editor do whatever she wants.

2. I read the notes I left for myself last time.

3. I pick up the story from where I left off, carefully stitching together the scenes I wrote out of order with neat sutures into the story where they belong. I write myself notes for next time.

4. I read over the new words I've just written, allowing the Internal Editor to have her way with them.

5. I save the WiP and go watch TV.

Ta-da! I embrace my eclectic, out-of-order, messy, note-filled writing style with gusto. Entire drafts have been composed in less than 3 weeks.

How do you write?