More Author Insight: Writing Behind the Scenes

If someone had a behind-the-scenes pass to observe your writing process what would they see?

"Sadly, nothing exciting. I can't imagine a worse thing to have a behind-the-scenes pass to. It would involve watching a lot of me staring at the screen and pacing my apartment, then suddenly running to the keyboard and pounding away for anything from five minutes to five hours before pacing again." - Barry Lyga, author of I Hunt Killers. 

"Chaos, probably. Writing process sounds so impressive and orderly, but the fact is I fit it in when I can around my crowded life." - Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door. 

"A possibly crazy woman listening to conversations in her head, jotting notes on a turquoise notepad, sipping peach tea, building playlists specific to a book or scene, and then a lot of throwing words at the page while personal hygiene, housework, and the ability to dress like an adult fall to the wayside." - C.J. Redwine, author of Defiance. 

"They’d see my secret to writing -- a troll hovers in a corner of the ceiling in my office. Whenever I’m stuck, he scurries down and climbs on my keyboard to help out. It’s nice, but I don’t like it when he’s too good." - Lissa Price, author of Starters. 

"Sadly, they would see what an unglamorous profession writing actually is. Do you remember all those covers on Barbara Cartland novels that showed her in ball gowns and wearing diamond jewelry? Yeah, that isn’t my life.  I sit in front of the computer in my pajamas. I think about plot ideas while puttering around doing housework. It isn’t a pretty sight. Oh—and a behind the scenes pass would also show me consuming chocolate, swearing that “this is my last one” and then repeating the process several times." - Janette Rallison (AKA C.J. Hill), author of Erasing Time. 

"Sweatpants and old t-shirts, many cups of coffee, impromptu dance parties, and hours of staring off into space. And the really awkward moments when I act out the scenes I’m writing in front of a mirror." - Sarah Maas, author of Throne of Glass. 

"Messy whiteboards, scenes taped to walls, me in my pajamas. I suppose the strangest thing I do is hum and sing revisions as I transfer them from page to file. I know that sounds insane, but it's a way of keeping myself focused when I'm exhausted and close to deadline." - Leigh Bardugo, author of Shadow and Bone. 

"Lots of shouting at the computer, bouts of furious dish washing… Mainly they would see me going over and over the story. I read on the computer, make lots of margin comments, read printed copies, and read passages out loud."  - Kevin Emerson, author of The Lost Code. 

"They would see legal pads filled with notes, index cards bursting with scene ideas, and a color-coded corkboard outlining the entire work in progress." - Jessi Kirby, author of In Honor. 

"Some staring at the wall, some note-scribbling, a lot of typing. And the occasional administering of chocolate." - Jennifer Hubbard, author of Try Not to Breathe.

"A lot of walking and sitting just thinking. So it would be pretty boring! I’ve learned that I need to figure most everything out before I sit down to write. I’m a pretty fast writer, but only if I know where I need to go and how I’m going to get there. So in the beginning, I always concentrate on understanding each character by spending time with them. And, I’ll admit it, sometimes there are tears and hiding behind my desk." - Elizabeth Eulberg, author of Take a Bow. 

"Honestly, it's fairly boring. I take up residence on the couch for hours on end. My cat snuggles up next to me (I call him my 'mews'—bad pun, I know, but he refuses to be ignored until I pet him enough that he finally dozes off next to me), I put my headphones on and pretty much disappear into my laptop. I write better at night, and I don’t really get into a groove until about 2 or 3 a.m. I do tend to make ridiculous faces when I'm writing dialogue. I act it out. It's very hard for me to write with someone in the room because I get self-conscious about the goofy expressions I'm making. And when I'm blocked, I sing along to whatever I'm listening to." - Cara Lynn Shultz, author of Spellcaster. 

Find out Tuesday if there's a genre of fiction the authors would never write! 

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