How Do You Write?

Mar 24, 2010 | No Comments | @andrewmarcec

One question that I get from a lot of people when I tell them what I do with my time is, “How do you write?”   Seems like it would be a fairly common knowledge answer, I stick pen to paper and make words that make sentences…..and on and on.  OK so that’s really more of the dick answer to that question.

What they are really asking you is, “How in the hell can you take random thoughts and ideas, connect  and intertwine them into an interesting plot that people will want to read?”

The truth is, not even I have any idea how I do this.  Inspiration and ideas come to me in so many different odd ways.  Many come from the odd dreams that I have on an almost nightly basis, but others can come from much more simple means.  Once I got an idea for a psychological thriller because of a funny comment Dwight made on the office.  There really is no rhyme or reason to what will strike a chord with you.

Where would I even begin to answer this question though?  To someone who isn’t familiar with the writing process, and even to those who are, it’s never the same twice, and it’s different for everyone.  Some writers prefer to build an entire story outline before they type the first word, other prefer to feel everything out as they go along, let the characters grow as the story progresses.  I’ve tried both approach and they both work, but it seems that I do a majority of my brainstorming in my idle time (not that there is much).

Formatting, character creation, thinks like that are another monster entirely.  So how do we quickly go back and answer this question in a brief response that will both satisfy their curiosity to the writing process and still fully convey what we do.  I have a tendency to be a bit of an over explainer, any of my close friends can tell you that.  So my responses to this question are either incredibly detailed and confusing, or a simple shrug and an “I dunno, just kinda do”.  Neither of these questions really gets either me or the recipient of the question very excited about writing.

So I think the best way to answer this question is to quote Stephen King’s answer.  He merely says, “One word at a time”.

I agree, I don’t think anyone has summed it up better.  But for those of you, who are genuinely curious, or still struggling to find your voice as a writer as I was doing for so long, visit back here weekly to read this How Do You Write post.  In it I will talk about each step of my writing process, talk about successes I’ve seen, failures I’ve had, and maybe help you along the way.

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