There are a lot of stages of writing, most of them are not beneficial to the actual act of writing and a lot of it leads to hair pulling, crying and panicking. Being a writer is pretty cool even if getting a story out is pretty time consuming. Here are the 10 stages of story writing.
1. The Spark
Getting an idea that won't leave you alone is really pretty thrilling. You have characters who intrigue you, a plot that makes you want to forget about other aspects of life so that you can just sit down at your computer (or to the far and few between, with a notebook) and write every word until you're finished.
2. Denial
You start writing but then it dawns on you that this one tiny element sounds like a trope from "Harry Potter" or maybe it sounds like something from "Twilight" and that's just not okay. You go into a deep, deep cave of denial and refuse to believe that your imagination could have turned against you, but it does happen.
3. Confusion and Doubt
How could this have happened? My imagination came up with so many other wonderful things? Why am I drawing parallels with "Twilight" now?! You are so confused by your own mind that you start to wonder and doubt that you're even a good writer anymore...
4. Planning
But you get through the terrible phase in which you doubt yourself and you start planning everything out. My MC (main character) is going to have blond hair to the bottom of her jaw and she's going to have a mole on the left side of her mouth... You plan everything so you know just where you story is going to go.
5. Crying
Except that planning is time consuming and tedious and you hate every minute of it so three chapters and four of fifteen characters later, you scrap that and throw it all aside just to take a minute to cry. I'll never finish this story! I'll never get anywhere!
6. The Spree
After a day or two spent crying, you'll find your grove again and write like no one has ever written. Tolstoy and Victor Hugo ain't got nothing on you!
7. The Rabbit Hole
After a few good writing sessions, you decide to take a wee break and search the internet for something. Maybe it's a name you want to change, maybe it's an actor's face you want to match with the character you adore. Sometimes it's just going to Instagram, Facebook or Tumblr and getting sucked in. We all do it. It's okay. I recommend repeating this step at least a few times throughout the process, just to feel bad enough after you've climbed out of the rabbit hole to repeat step six.
8. Excitement
You're writing hard again and it's some of the best work you've ever written. You feel like this is more eloquent than any of the garbage on the New York Times Best Seller list. Move over E.L. James! Move over Agatha Christie!
9. Fear (AKA Doubt 2.0)
What if this book you're writing never gets sold though? What if you never find an agent who wants it? What if this idea is just like "Twilight" like you thought in the beginning? What if it's worse and you're doing a fan fic of a fan fic and it's never good enough for the internet to love and mock mercilessly?
10. Terror and/or Dread with a Dash of Relief
You make it through the second wave of doubt, finish the story and finally, it's done. You're still horrified that you won't sell this idea ever but you've finished it and the characters have at least stopped bothering you for the moment. You're relieved because it's over.
But what's this? It's an idea for a sequel! Oh no! Not just a sequel, it's a trilogy! RUN!
