Now that my second book is about
to go out into the world, I’ve realized that my writing process has changed
quite a bit over the years. I used to be a die-hard pantser. The idea of
outlining made me shudder. I did write with an ending in mind and with an
awareness of the character’s emotional journey, but planning the story out
beforehand felt too restricting.
Once I sold two follow-up books
to my debut, however, I entered the thrilling/terrifying world of writing on
deadline. Suddenly, I had a lot less time to get a book done which meant that
my process had to be much more efficient. The answer? Oh boy. I had to shed my
pantser ways.
I tried outlining. I really did.
But it just didn’t work for me. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t know what
happens in a scene until I actually write it. But as I played around with
different planning techniques, I realized that writing a synopsis allowed me to
tell the story without breaking it down scene by scene. Plus, a synopsis still
gave me the feeling that I was telling the story instead of planning it.
Once I had a new and improved
writing approach, I spent a lot more time during the revision stage working
with the synopsis instead of the actual manuscript. That way, if I decided to
make any big changes in the story, I could see how they played out in the
synopsis first before rewriting any scenes. This kept me from making any major
missteps in the story while still giving me a lot of freedom to experiment.
Now that I’m revising the third
book in the series, I’m trying to balance creativity with time-management.
Writing, of course, isn’t a scientific pursuit. Sometimes, no matter how well
you plan things, you still need to wait for inspiration. But I’m glad that I’ve
been forced to make my process more focused and mature. I may never be an
outliner, but I guess you never know.
Thanks, Anna! Here's the adorable & funny book trailer for MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL:
Thanks, Anna! Here's the adorable & funny book trailer for MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL:
Author Anna Staniszewski |
Anna's Bio:
Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna
Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named
the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of
the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives
outside of Boston, Mass. with her husband and their adopted black Labrador,
Emma. When she's not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and
challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. You can visit her at www.annastan.com.