The Writing Process Blog Tour – 12th May 2014

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So, today’s stop for the Writers’ Blog Tour is all about me! (Well, and a little about Katherine Lampe (who invited me to host the tour this week), Vanessa Wester and C.S. Janey too).

So, this blog tour is all about learning about each others’ writing processes and their work. So here’s a bit about me and my work:

About Madeline Dyer — my ‘official’ bio:

Madeline Dyer is a fantasy and science fiction writer, whose fiction has been traditionally published by a number of presses. Her most popular short stories, ‘The Power Of Blood’, ‘The Photograph’ and ‘Stolen Memories’, appear online, in magazines, and in paperback and ebook anthologies in aid of charity. Having had seventeen short stories published, Madeline has been working on a number of novels in the last few years. Her upcoming book, Untamed, a YA dystopian novel, is currently under review with several publishers, one of which has already offered Madeline a contract.

And now onto the questions about my writing process!

1)     What am I working on?

I’ve just finished editing my latest novel, a NA sci-fi thriller and have had an agent request the full manuscript already!

I’m now kind of between projects, and am most likely going to start rewriting the manuscript I wrote for the 2012 NaNoWriMo, as well as start a new project. I’ve got a brief idea budding at the moment–a rather dark YA thriller with fantasy elements.

I also want to get back into writing short stories too, and would love to try a completely new genre…

2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The genres I write in are mainly fantasy and science fiction, aimed at a mature YA or NA audience. One of my books that I’m currently in the process of querying editors and publishers with is a YA dystopia, currently called Untamed, and it’s a little grittier but includes fantasy elements, such as spirits, as well as advanced technology, which I think makes it a little different to others that I’ve read. Recently, I was offered a contract for this book too!

3)     Why do I write what I do?

There’s something about speculative fiction that I just love. I think it’s the imaginative part of it that’s what does it for me. The idea that anything can happen is just amazing, and it brings a new sort of freedom to writing. Yet, I also like my writing to be believable, and–to a degree–realistic.

4)     How does my writing process work?

When writing Untamed, I outlined first (after mind-mapping for a couple of days), then went straight into the first draft. It took me about a month to write (60,000 words ish), and then another few weeks to edit/restructure/rewrite. This brought the word count to about 65,000 words. At this point, I started querying the manuscript and got quite a few requests for fulls. An request for revisions and to resubmit, from an editor at a press, led me to make some massive changes–all of which made the manuscript stronger. In short, these changes involved adding in a smaller sup-plot, rewriting aspects of the ending and some more ‘technical’ edits. This brought the manuscript up to 100,000 words–and, now it is a manuscript that I’m truly happy with.

The latest book I’ve written, The Imposter, wasn’t written in chronological order, like Untamed was. The Imposter was my Camp NaNo project for last month(!), and after two weeks I had all the scenes written, coming in at 60,000 words–just not in the right order. This led me to do a lot of restructuring and shuffling. Once I was happy with the new structure, I then completely rewrote the opening three chapters, and began to ‘flesh out’ the rather skeletal first draft, fixing my writing and filling in several plot holes, as well as adding in foreshadowing. I then began editing the book, starting from the beginning, looking out for continuity errors, and, at this point, rewrote the ending and got rid of a character who wasn’t needed. I also worked on a lot of the charaterisation as I went through this draft, and deleted several scenes from the middle of the book that just didn’t add anything to the plot. I then went through the manuscript again, looking for typos that had got away, and any final changes, before querying it at the twitter pitch party. #RTslap. And, I got a request from an agent–who has now requested the full manuscript based on my twitter pitch, query letter and opening three chapters.

Whenever I write anything longer than a short sotry, I tend to plan–even if it’s just a little bit. But I do like the idea of free-writing a novel, and seeing where it takes me!

 

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So, a massive thanks to Katherine Lampe for nominating me to host the blog for this week.

Next week, the blog tour will continue with Vanessa Wester and C.S Janey.

Vanessa Wester is bilingual in English and Spanish, since she was born and raised in Gibraltar. With a degree in Accountancy & Law, she initially worked for two leading accountancy firms, before she changed career and became a secondary school mathematics teacher. Over the past twelve years, she has devoted her time to the upbringing of her children, whilst giving up a lot of her time to help voluntary organisations.
Vanessa developed her writing bug in 2010 and has not looked back since. She has published ‘The Evolution Trilogy’, which is comprised of HYBRID, her debut novel, followed by COMPLICATIONS and RETURN. In addition, she has also published anthologies in aid of charity. Three adult collections, via theAnthologies for Adults, and two children’s collections, via Stories for all. She has also released a novelette called FIRST DATE, which is based on her true story.
She is currently working on a historical fiction novel based on the life of her great, great, great grandparents… and is finding the research fascinating!
Writing is one of her passions, reading the other. The day she decided to start writing her ideas down she found another way to lose herself in a book, whilst finding an outlet for her imagination. It is the best way she can think of to escape from everyday life. She now lives on the Isle of Wight, UK.
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C.S. Janey is a big fan of romance — writing and reading.
The mother of one, she currently spends her days writing, reading, procrastinating, and protecting her son from himself as he pretends that he is a superhero.
Sugar Baby Lies is her third novel and a complete standalone.
Her first novel, Surrender To You, is the first in a series, but may be read as a standalone. The story is a contemporary adult romance with characters in their late 20s, early 30s. The other books in the series will involve secondary characters introduced in the first.
Love Renewed is her second contemporary adult romance. The first in her Love Trilogy, it can be enjoyed as a standalone novella. The other two books in the series, Love Desired (#2), featuring Ramsey and Arabella, and Love Hidden (#3), featuring Gwyneth and Lucien, will soon follow.