Sit Down. It's Time to Write that Book.

My writing process—from a Type A author, four books deep

My biggest set of headphones. My phone on Do Not Disturb. A carefully crafted playlist that matches the vibes of what I’m writing. No overhead light, only the warm amber of my mint green desk lamp.

Then I pull up my corresponding Pinterest board, jot down my current word count, and begin writing (often, at an agonizingly slow pace for two hours before I get into a flow).

It’s a process. My process. But one I’ve gone through five times now. And yet, it hasn’t gotten any easier.

Writing a book is like stepping into a new house. A fixer-upper. And you have the responsibility to make it into a home. Bring it to life based on a mental image.

Each time I’ve written a book, I think I’m going into it more knowledgeable, only to leave going I’m not sure I could write that again if you asked. Not because it wasn’t self-satisfying, but because it is truly not a linear process.

You’re being thrown into a home that has no plumbing, bare walls, unlevel floors, and an image in your brain of what you want it to all look like. Maybe you learned plumbing on the last house, but on this house, there’s a pipe you’ve never seen before. Now you’re screwed. You’re going down a rabbit hole of this new pipe, and in the meantime, the tile under your feet is buckling.

Apologies for the long-winded metaphor. I’d been thinking about the parallels all day.

This is all to say that if you’ve tried to sit down and write a book, or have mulled over it for a long time, but the fear of it being too hard has scared you, then I wanted to let you know that it’s hard for everyone. But the fact that you do it anyway makes it so much more satisfying.

No one builds a house in a day, maybe not even a year. Writing a book is a process. One that I didn’t think I was capable of. And there was simply no way I was going to start writing a book only to not finish. My Type A brain couldn’t handle that. It still can’t.

Yet, somehow, I’m on my fourth book, and I’d like to think I’ve gotten a grip on a process.

But what’s the process?

How I Plot My Novels:

• Write Down Every Thought

  • When I have an idea for a book, I write down every thought that surrounds it (lines of dialogue, a personality trait, a character quirk, a plot point, a scene, etc)

    • I know I’m committed to a book idea when my brain is spitting out the tiniest of details, despite the novel idea being pushed to the back of my mind while I work

• Organize Them Into an Outline

  • Once you have a Note on your phone packed with jotted down knowledge of this book, organize those thoughts into a timeline—that’ll give you an outline!

    • I like to use Notion because it allows you to toggle information, so chapter ideas with large paragraphs can be expanded and then folded in

• Build Out the Outline

  • The outline will look pretty bare, so I’ll brainstorm from here to help build the meat around those pillar joints

  • The components I like to have in my outline are 1) the plot, 2) four major events, and 3) the climax. (Many writers are pantsers—writers who prefer writing without an outline—but I require a clear vision of the story so I know I’m working towards something.)

    • My Brainstorming Process:

      • 1. Currently, I’m writing a mystery spy book, so I’m consuming a lot of fantasy novels with mystery elements, along with action films popular for their fight choreography. This simply helps get my mind in the right space!

      • 2. It sounds silly, but moodboarding never fails me. (The ones who create annual vision boards and meticulously cut images from magazines understand.) I’ve garnered so many ideas from just a simple photo. (For instance, this image inspired the Lover and Archer line in Picking Daisies on Sundays. While this image inspired my favorite scene in my (unreleased) third book.)

      • 3. Talk through your ideas with someone! You’d be surprised by how much inspiration can sprout through a conversation.

Once I feel excited about the chapters I have planned, and I’m itching to get into chapter one, then I know I’ve got a book, and it’s time to write!

In the Weeds of Writing: Draft One

The Beginning:

In my opinion, pages 30-130 are the hardest to write.

Chapter one, you hit the ground running*. This idea has been bubbling for months, maybe years, and now you get to jump into your character’s shoes and take them for a spin.

Then have the balancing act between the beginning of the plot and the character’s growth, along with introducing your reader to your fictionalized world without info-dumping. But figuring out how to do all of that without going too quickly is important, too, because the reader is only just getting to know everyone!

There’s so much to explain and introduce.

Tension can’t be stretched yet. The slow burn can’t even sizzle. The first 130 pages, in my opinion, are for building the story, luring the readers into the world, and convincing them to care about the characters. That way, the story has a strong impact down the line.

*(If chapter one is where you’re struggling the most, I recommend just picking a setting (coffee shop, grocery store, scaling a building, etc.), dropping your character there, and picking a random word—ask ChatGPT for a random word!— to use in the first sentence and go from there. You don’t have to use that chapter, but at least your writing! You’ll be surprised how ideas stem from it.)

The Middle:

The middle for me is the best part.

I finally get to dive into all those chapter ideas I’ve been collecting like acorns, waiting to eat upon winter’s arrival.

The bond I’ve created between my two characters has finally been forged, and I can get into the good stuff. Pluck at that tight string of tension. Wield the character development I’ve been slicing into. Push elements of mystery forward that I perfectly placed seventy pages prior, like a chessboard.

The readers understand the plot, and they know the characters. They shouldn’t be second-guessing any of that.

However, this is where I do tend to second-guess myself. I start to question the pacing—is it too fast? Too slow? I debate if the book is interesting enough—will readers give up here?

You’ll realize you’ve spent many months working on this, questioning if it’s good because you become immune to your own words at times.

Just keep pushing through, trust me. And give yourself some well-earned breaks away from your writing so you don’t go insane (as I often do)!

The End:

Writing the end feels like I’m somersaulting down a hill and I can’t get a grip on the grass to stop.

Suddenly, there are a million loose ends that need to be tied up and my hands are too full to tie any of them.

With almost every book I’ve written, I never knew the ending. I always have a vague idea of the ending, but I’m never too sure where everything is going to end up. That’s one of those blank spaces in my outline that I leave up to Draft One Liana. I trust she’ll figure out the ending if she was able to successfully write the first 2/3rds of the book. And honestly, it’s worked every time!

As a writer, you really have to trust yourself to figure it out. You don’t need to know everything that will happen in your story before starting. Leaving open spaces for creativity is where some of your favorite scenes can come from.

What’s Next?

• Take a break! If you can take months away from your manuscript, I highly recommend it. It will allow you to breathe and appreciate your work when you come back to it. You’ll also be able to return to it as a reader instead, with fresh eyes that don’t remember every detail.

• Once you feel excited, rather than tired, to return to it, draft two can ensue. I recommend printing the manuscript so you can look over it like a reader and make notes in pen as you go. You’ll get a quick grasp on flow and pacing that way.

• Once you make your notes, transition those edits to your computer, and pass it over to new hands. Whether that’s a friend or a beta reader, they can contribute opinions on the plot or characters. Maybe they’re missing something that you thought was obvious! A second set of eyes is always needed.

Things to Keep in Mind While Writing a Book:

• Find your writing style and sink into it—it’s what makes you you

• Don’t be so hard on yourself—it’s only draft one, you’re the only one reading it right now

• Give yourself goals! I like to set a goal to write for just 30 minutes on long days so I feel that I made some progress

• You will Google “another way to say ‘said’” a million times

• Have fun! You should want to read your book

• Nothing can be edited if you don’t write

I hope you found this letter helpful! There is no one way to write a book—this is simply the process I follow, remember that!

Happy writing. I can’t wait to see what you create. Talk soon!

Love, Liana