My Writing Process

I haven't done any new research in a while, but I have been writing. This past year, I wrote a fiction book for my senior thesis, and one of the most common questions I heard (especially from my science-y friends) was, "What's your process?"

Okay, keep in mind that that is a seriously vague question, and one that probably doesn't have a single answer because I don't always do the same thing everything I sit down to write. But I realized that I did have to make a series of decisions in the process of writing this book, and I wanted to share that series with all of you.

Step 1: Decide why you're writing
Writing is hard work. It's mentally and emotionally exhausting, so there will come a time when you want to give up. But if you know why you're writing, it'll be easier for you to keep going.

And the reason doesn't have to be profound or noble in any way. I started writing my book because it was the only project my college advisors approved for my senior thesis. I literally dedicated the book to my desire to graduate. Maybe you're writing because you have an idea you want to share. Or maybe you just want to make money. It doesn't really matter what your reason is; just make sure you have one.

Step 2: Choose a genre
I think this step is pretty obvious. My genre was kind of chosen for me, since my book had to be something that combined astrophysics and folklore. But knowing the genre ahead of time really helped narrow things down later.

Step 3: Pick a point of view
I can't guarantee this step should be your #3, but it worked for me.

When I was first thinking about the book, I was totally overwhelmed by all the choices I had to make and terrified by the extent of the world I had to create. I needed a way to narrow my world, and point of view was the perfect way to do that. By choosing first person, I was only agreeing to create parts of the world the main character would reasonably see.

But maybe you aren't limited by your imagination like I was by mine. Maybe you have too many things you want to show your readers. Whatever your worries are, point of view is a nice way to set up the world so that you share exactly as much with your readers as you want to.

Step 4: Create a character
I started by creating a single character because my book was in first person POV. Regardless of your POV, though, creating characters is a great next step because it helps everything else fall into place.

My professor in my last creative writing class stressed over and over again the superiority of character-driven narratives over plot-driven ones. She said they're more immersive stories, and I completely agree, but it's more than that.

When you create a character first -- and I mean really create a character, so that you know their strengths, flaws, and interests -- you'll be able to come up with a plot that the character would actually engage with. The small details and subplots of your story will come naturally, almost as if the characters are acting for themselves and you're just writing down what they do.


Everything after those steps was just late nights spent writing and lots of begging my friends to read drafts. I hope this helps, but in case it didn't, here's a video of an adorable Irish pug.