My friend Sara Crawford (author of The 30 Day Writing Challenge), tagged me in the Writing Process Blog Tour. Because she tends to be able to bend me to her will with the alluring awkwardness of her puppy dog stare, I’m participating. Aren’t you excited? I sure am.

Visit Sara’s blog here and check out her answers to these fine questions. She’s really got this writing process thing down.

Here’s how this blog tour basically works: You’re given four questions regarding your writing process. You answer them then tag two of your writy friends. Yes, writy friends who then answer the same questions in their blog and tag others.

Let’s see how I did.

What are you currently working on?

What am I NOT working on? I don’t think there’s ever a time where I whittled my project list to single digit status. Let me see if I can make this brief.

I’m working on the second edition of the Bayou L’Abeille stories. This entails approximately 25-30 short horror stories (of which only a select few are completed). There are also two separate fantasy novellas I have in the works. Gargoyles and bards and magic, oh my! I also have a short steampunk piece that I’ll finish one day. Maybe. Because I tend to write in a lot of genres, I do have a children’s story that I’m writing and illustrating that is almost complete.

I’ve also been debating a second book of poetry, but we’ll have to see if the inspiration strikes as hard as it needs to in order to get me motivated on that. I have a hard head.

2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I think it’s accurate of most writers that we play in and out of many genres. The truth of the matter is that the only thing that differentiates us from one another is our voice. My voice makes me different. It is unique because it is mine (is it time to quote Full Metal Jacket yet?). To give a more appropriate answer, between the mix of Southern charm, humor, descriptive visualization and a touch of the poetics here and there, my differences are subtle, but recognizable. I kind of feel like that sounded really pompous. Bless my heart. 🙂

3. Why do you write what you write?

Why? Such a short question that has such a big answer. I write what I write because if I don’t get my stories out, it gets physically uncomfortable. I know that sounds Super Lame(tm), but it’s true. My stories come from so many places. It’s strange the things that spark the writing bug for me. I think, though, that I write what I write because I want to make people think, feel and laugh…and sometimes I want all of those things at the same time. One of my favorite moments since I published Bayou L’Abeille was sitting with someone who was reading one of the stories and witnessing them absolutely crack up. I wanted to bottle that and keep it.

4. How does your individual writing process work?

While I know I need to schedule a designated writing time, that doesn’t always work. Should I be writing daily? Yes (sorry, Sara). I’m working on it.

Usually, I’ll sit down and create an outline of where I want to go. It might start in the middle of the story and spiral outward and it might start at the end and tumble back to the beginning. After that, I write my characters. Sometimes it’s just a small moment in time, a simple reaction to their energy.  Then sometimes I fill a few pages just trying to understand what they’re about.

It’s a rare thing that I start a story at the beginning and write through the end. Often, I start in the middle. I liken my process, at times, to how a movie is filmed. I write what works that day, even if the scenes are out of order.

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Now I’m going to tag two writers…no, I’m not. I make my own rules. I’m tagging one, because she’s awesome.

Sophie Childs is the amazing person who allowed me to reach one of my dreams. She published Bayou L’Abeille through Fey Publishing. She’s also a very talented and creative writer. You can find her words on her Facebook page (and on rare occasion on her Twitter).

OH GURL IT’S AN EDIT—— So I decided to tag one more person. EJ Eisman is a writer I met on my author page. GO MAKE A NEW FRIEND!