Some people say they sit down and plan out everything in their story before they write it, others say they plot its outline carefully as they start writing it and others just write. I’m a combination of the last two.

My stories start because of a dream, an image or a scene. Many of them are dreams I invested myself in and wound a story out of. I dream quite vividly with quite a lot of substance and involve myself in them so much that I can sometimes control them. This is how I dealt with nightmares but I think the entirety of my dreaming habits was to deal with life in general. A lot of my larger projects are from dreams that I honestly thought I existed in until I woke up and became conscious of the real world. Images are sometimes life gifs, something that pops into my head and is usually so beautiful that I pull a story out of it. It’s usually a person. TAS was written because I saw an image of X in the snow, a beautiful young woman that still appeared as a young child. Her icy blue eyes blinking with dark long lashes as snow fell on her caramel skin. And then I imagined her being carried on the back of someone tall and important to her, a young man who walked in the dark with her; that man became X. Sofila and Rukoma are the central characters of TAS.

The Doll also started because of the image of Pearl.

When it came time for the Gifting Ceremony, a large box was brought in, wrapped in gold paper and tied with white ribbons. Lucian hadn’t touched any of his other gifts but he watched as they brought this one in and put it down before them.

Jacob’s grin was wider than Lucian liked and he walked up to the gift as if he had discovered something world-changing. The hall was silent and the Dolls filtered out of the crowd, retreating to the back of the room as the men gathered closely. Jacob took out a lighter, and to the shock of the room, lit one of the ribbons on fire.

Lucian watched as the flame travelled rapidly up the ribbon before setting the entirety of the gold wrapping on fire, a brilliant blaze of orange. It eventually began to flicker out, burning the wrapping and ribbons away to reveal a sight that had the crowd in applause. It was by far the most interesting and grand Gift Ceremony they had ever attended.

A crystal box stood before Lucian. Inside of the glass stood a girl, just as young as he but almost a foot smaller. She was petite, her facial features elegant and expertly curved like her figure. Her expression was serene, almost like a painting with her aquamarine eyes half-closed and hair the colour of pearls, shimmering with slight iridescence. She was dressed in a small, ruffle-abundant dress with lace detailing, and dripping in long chains of pearls with white flowers of all kinds scattered throughout the case, like a snow-globe. Baby’s breath and lilies filled her hair and rose petals twinkled down to her small, bare feet. Lucian was almost possessed by her eyes, large and bright but brimming with waking life. And yet he knew she had not just merely appeared before him, she had been groomed and altered her entire life to one day do so.

After the endless praise towards Jacob died down, the grandiose of the gift once again silenced the room. Lucian stepped towards the glass case and the girl’s eyes opened fully, revealing watch looked to be pearls rather than eyes, their colours shifting slighting depending on from where he looked at them. Her pupils were faint, making her seem almost ethereal in the box. She was truly a vision of beauty and Jacob smirked, his ego rubbed by Lucian’s reaction. It wasn’t obvious but many that had been around him since he was a boy could see that he wasn’t as composed as normal.

A scene is usually comprised of dialogue for me that appears like a writing prompt and then it goes from there. Often snarky banter.

After I start writing, I just keep writing. In the past few years, I have preferred to write from start to finish rather than jumping ahead and writing scenes and then just patching it up later. I love creating profiles and a plethora of information but will only do it for particular stories, the ones that explode inside of me and beg me to create a real world, as if I’m putting together a terrarium on my desk. But I start designing things that pull me away from actually writing. My most prized set of stories has intricate planning around the educational and political systems that trail down to the names of ministers we’ll probably never meet and timetables and curriculum plans that will choke the story if I actually embedded them in. It also sometimes results in my process halting because I end up with so much information that I’m too overwhelmed to use any of it: it’s become more of a chore than fun. I get to a point where I feel obliged to gather the details of anything and everything. I’m a lot better at not doing that now, but it still happens.

I get taken away with a story. When I was younger it was all about writing and planning at the same time but now its about writing, writing, writing and keeping notes on the side to make sure I’m planning the story out properly. I focus more on character, setting and timeline detail now, rather than sweating so much about details that I might never utilise. I try to actually look at what’s important in my writing rather than losing myself in an invented world.

And so my writing process is really simple. I get an idea and then write and write, recording details and making profiles as I go. I write in large blocks and preferably when I’m alone. I hate people looking at my work more than anything. I like the freedom of writing on my own.

I like using a combination of the computer and paper because I do like writing with a pen and paper but because of wrist injuries, I can’t do it for long periods of time.

In the past years, I’ve developed a better engagement with researching when necessary for pieces and enjoy it. If it’s needed, it becomes an integral part of my process. It causes my interests to broaden and I often find the topics more interesting than I previously had. There is also something very satisfying by trying to do my due diligence when it comes to things like culture or history.

So, what do I know about my current writing process?

Really just the main parts.

Will I know more about it?

Who knows. This might really be all there is to it. But I thought I’d might as well think about it.