The moment a reader becomes a writer, they find themselves with a list of instructions.
A Scribophile member had asked in the forums what writing system everyone used for their book. Although this process is very subjective, I posted my response below. It was received so well, that I decided to post it here.
After conceiving an idea…
1 – Compose a character list and develop their background, psychology, and relationships with each other. Assign Inner Motives and psychology issues.
2 – Develop a location, setting, time period, research the hell out of that era and geography. Assign a date, a moon cycle, and a season. Determine holidays and cultures.
3 – Develop and outline the history of the world that leads up to the period where my characters exist.
4 – Draw up an outline and series of events that tie in the characters to each other and the setting.
5 – Add current events that fill out and shape the world, time period, and news of the day that will be affecting my characters.
6 – Break down the events into scenes and divide those scenes into chapters anywhere from 1 to 3 scenes per chapter
7 – Write!
8 – Edit for characterization
9 – Edit for historical consistency
10 – Edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation,
11 – Edit for foreign word spelling and definition consistency
12 – Begin outlining next book
13 – Edit current project for foreshadowing in following books.
14 – Edit for clarity, edit for flow, edit for prose
15 – Insert more scenes were needed to fill out or flesh out characters and setting
16 – Edit for Pacing, adding and deleting scenes where needed
17 – Edit for pacing, prolonging and shortening scenes where needed.
18 – Hand to beta readers and review critiques
19 – Read through and correct then rinse and repeat step 19 until no more errors are located.
20 – Post on www.scribophile.com and weigh the feedback received from members.
