The Writing Process- Come Together

You’ve got your topic (The Writing Process- Ideas, Ideas)

You’ve brainstormed the points you want to make about it (The Writing Process- Gather Up Everything)

You’ve put your points in order (The Writing Process-Lets Get Organized)

You’ve thought about how you want to write (The Writing Process- Time Traveller)

You’ve set up your blank manuscript (The Writing Process- Size Matters)

And now it’s time to bring all of these steps together before you start writing.

Here’s what I do.

• I take my rough outline, with the individual points listed under each heading, copy it and plug it into my blank manuscript, to give me a framework for doing the actual writing.
• I’ll include pages labelled “Title”, “Dedication”, “Table of Contents”, and so on as place holders for things I need to put in later.
• I’ll change the lettering of this framework in some fashion (make it italic, make the lettering red, or do something else to make it easy to see the difference between the framework and the actual writing.)
• I’ll number the pages so I can get a feel for how long the manuscript is as I go along.
• I’ll space the chapters so they all start on odd numbered (right hand) pages, once again to get a feel for the finished length.

And then I’m ready to start writing.

Building this framework is an optional step, and you may not want to do it. I find it very helpful, though. Having the framework makes it easier for me to write the actual work, helps me remember important points, and keeps me on track, which makes me write better.

Time to write

Catherine Kane

2/27/15

For more information on Catherine’s books, “Adventures in Palmistry”, “The Practical Empath – Surviving and Thriving as a Psychic Empath”, “Manifesting Something Better” , her urban fantasy “The Lands That Lie Between”  and her new book “The Psychic Power of Your Dreams”, all from Foresight Publications, click here