The Creative Process

Where Stories Begin

For me, a story rarely begins with a plot. It begins with a feeling — a particular quality of afternoon light, an overheard phrase on the bus, the specific weight of a question I can't stop turning over. The plot comes later, usually through a long and very untidy process of writing my way toward it.

I've learned to trust the images and fragments that arrive uninvited, even when they don't seem to be connected to anything. They almost always are.

First Drafts

My first drafts are written as quickly as I can manage, with the sole purpose of finding out what the story actually is. I try to resist revising as I go — which goes against every instinct I have — because I've found that the story I thought I was writing is almost never the one that wants to be written.

“The first draft is you telling yourself the story.”
— Terry Pratchett

Revision

This is where the real work happens, and honestly, where I love the work most. By the time I reach revision, I know what the story is trying to do. Now I can ask whether every scene, every line, every word is doing its job — and do the satisfying, almost surgical work of cutting what isn't.

I typically do many passes before a manuscript is ready, each one looking at something different: structure, character logic, dialogue, pace, line-level rhythm.

The Long Middle

Between the exciting beginning and the satisfaction of a finished draft lies the long middle — the murky territory where everything feels hard and nothing connects. I suspect this is true for almost every writer, no matter how experienced. It helps to know it will pass.

More to come — Jessie will expand this section with her own writing process notes.