What is your writing process?
I love to plan and planning comes easier to me than sitting down and actually writing because I'm horribly ADHD and planning takes less focus. I know that it's "uncool" as a writer to say that my process is anything other than free writing and going where the story takes me, but my process is to write out a skeleton so that I know the flow of the story, the plot twists, etc. ahead of time. This helps me because I can catch plot holes and potential shortcomings early. My first real draft of "Breathless" (meaning I wrote it at 17 rather than 10) was abysmal and made no sense because I tried to free write it and wound up with a massive plot hole rather than a beginning, middle, and end. Planning things out in advance just help you to sort out all the small details that pull a novel together and help you to better foreshadow major events down the line.
Once I have my skeleton, I start writing scenes kind of randomly, depending on which scene I'm most excited about depending on the day. So basically I wind up with an outline, random scenes, sometimes a few full chapters, and then I string them together like a puzzle and fill in the blanks.
I know it's not super conventional, but my brain is a scattered place and my work tends to mimic that.
Describe your desk
My dream desk would be organized with a bulletin board above it holding important reminders, sticky notes with ideas scrawled on them, and inspiration pictures. I'd have the essentials- a place for my laptop, a drove of colorful pens, Post-It notes galore, a nice Moleskine notebook for my outlines, and a planner for when I have to start meeting with agents and publishers. Of course, I'd have a cup of hot tea or coffee in a cute mug with a funny saying on it as well. Maybe fairy lights.
My actual desk is me sitting on my bed, propped up with a bunch of pillows, and my laptop on my lap. But hey, I'm only 22, I have time to get it together.
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