I'm thrilled to welcome Kyra Lennon to my blog today for one of her many stops on the Sidelined blog tour. I'm always fascinated with the writing processes of other authors, so I've asked Kyra to share hers. Be sure to enter the giveaway below and pick up your copy of Sidelined! Thank you, Kyra, for stopping by, and now my blog is yours...
When Michael asked me about my writing process, my immediate thought was to panic! Because, while I think most other writers do have a real, defined writing process, I am more a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer.
I have a confession. I loathe writing the first draft of a new story. People often give me strange looks when I admit this – which is why I don’t usually do it, but now you all know! The first draft, for many people, is when the ideas are flowing and the words just pour out onto the page, waiting to be tidied up. For me, every single word fights me in the first draft. It’s like the ideas are so used to waiting inside my head to be written, they refuse to be dragged out of their cocoon. I like to think of it as being similar to giving birth to a really stubborn baby!
A first draft for me will usually take at least two months, if not more. I am envious of people who can fling out a first draft in a couple of weeks – I’d get a lot more done if I was one of those people.
What I love most about the writing process is the editing. I love to polish, and make the sloppy words all nice and shiny, and ready for people to read. For unknown reasons, this part happens a lot faster than the first draft. I suspect this is because I can’t help editing as I write – so there is less to do at the end. I do TRY to just write the first draft without stopping but the only time I’ve managed it is during NaNoWriMo. Maybe I need to do more of that!
What is YOUR writing process like? Are you a fast first-drafter?
Blurb: At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed
of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than
Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything
handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to
better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen.Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make.
While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.
Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go.
