My Writing Process

I have been asked what my writing process is. That’s a tough question to answer.

Most of my close friends would use words like disciplined, organized, particular, maybe even rigid and uptight. True. Sadly. But my writing day is anything but disciplined and organized. I worked in state government for 30 years, more than half of that time as a project manager and supervisor. Being orderly and organized were job requirements. Excel spreadsheets and lists were like a drug to me. When I retired from that and picked up writing, a vocation that requires creativity, I tried to loosen up.

So, what is my writing process? I have a process? How the heck do I put into words how I write? I’ll give it a shot. Here goes.

I spend the morning doing all the household stuff that needs to be done – paying bills, cleaning, feeding the cats, ingesting lots of coffee, etc. I sit down around noon to write.

This sample day comes mid-way through writing my first book. I have a character that is making her way from her home in rural central Wisconsin to Milwaukee in the mid-1880s to start a new job at a hotel. I’ve taken her through her day. She has finish packing, had lunch, and is saying her goodbyes.

Wait! How is she getting to Milwaukee? There are no cars yet. It’s winter. Wagon? What kind of wagons are there? How many horses would be required to pull a wagon? Would a farmer have a whole team of horses? How fast can horses go? After researching all that, I calculate that taking a wagon drawn by two farm horses from anywhere in central Wisconsin to Milwaukee would take something like 14 hours.

Train? I research train routes. What days does the train run to Milwaukee? What are the stops? I hit up Google again and finally find the train schedules for that year. I find that there is a stop in Lyndon Station on a line that goes to Milwaukee. I go back and revise where I say my character grew up to make it Lyndon Station. I check the time that the train stops at Lyndon Station. Drat! The train only runs on Saturdays. I go back and revise what I’ve already written to make a Saturday departure possible and adjust the job offer I’ve written about to make her start on a different day.

OK, what time does she need to leave home to make it to the station in time? I refer to the train schedule and my horse-speed calculations again and find that she would have to leave very early in the morning to catch the train. I go back and remove what I’ve written for that day and the preceding day to have her packing the day before and leaving after a quick breakfast instead of after lunch.

Now, what were the roads like in winter in rural Wisconsin? I research again what the road surfaces were like during that year. I write about the journey to pick up the neighbor girl, who is joining my character in going to Milwaukee, and the ride to the train station. I get the girls on the train and… have to research again.

What kind of train is it? What are the different train cars? Are there different levels of luxury? How do tickets work? Where does the train stop along the way? What are the typical passengers like on a Saturday? What time do they arrive in Milwaukee? After finding all of this, I write about the train ride to Milwaukee.

Now I need to find out what the train station looked like, where it was located, and what businesses were near there. I find all that and write a description of the character’s first impression of Milwaukee. Then it’s time to get her to her new job in downtown Milwaukee. How would she get there?

I have to admit that by this time I’ve pretty much researched myself out for the day. Instead of figuring out how hired hacks and public transportation (if any) worked in the 1880s, I opt for another passenger on the train who is headed to the same hotel offering the girls a ride. I go back and create that other passenger and how they meet him and interact so that he offers them a ride.

Now I just need to research how far away the hotel is from the train station and calculate how long it would take to get there.

Whew.

Between the research (more than two hours’ worth) and the writing (maybe 45 minutes) I’ve tapped out for the day. The next step in my writing is to describe her first view of the hotel and the description of the interior and her room. That will take at least another hour to research. I’ve had enough for the day. I shut down my laptop and go in search of a snack.

Fast forward to 2:30am. I awake after dreaming about the character and her journey and the hotel and the people she’ll meet and… can’t get back to sleep. I get up, shrug into my robe, and fire up my laptop. Time for more research and writing.

So, how do I describe all this in a sound-bite at a reading or on a radio show? Good question.