Oh, how I love this, Jess! How generous of you to share your process so transparently. I can feel your excitement about your current project so intensely that I'm getting supercharged about it, and I don't even know what it is. 😂I love that you collect trinkets on your writing explorations.
I guess I am a method writer, although it's a new term for me. I dressed in clothes and shoes like my protagonist would have worn in 1918 when I was drafting. I even sewed and natural dyed some of them, as she probably would have. I went through historic cookbooks and herbals to eat and drink as she would have. It never struck me as nutty at the time because...how else could I know how she felt and thought? Solitude is my "crack" to such a degree that I don't even like music, even instrumental, playing while I write. I make big story boards that are like a triptych collage type thing that probably only makes sense to me. For some unknown reason, scent is very important to me when I write so I light candles, burn things like Lavender and Rose blossoms or whatever triggers the place I want to journey to in my story. I have this kind of ritual when I sit down to write where I light a candle and say, "My creative expressions and self-care are sacred acts of love for myself and the world"...every time. When I forget, the words don't flow. All I know for sure is that whatever our process is, regardless of how kooky, we have to make peace with it and honor it.
P.S. I just got Monolith and am looking forward to reading it!
I think you are a method writer! So many fun immersions. I'd love to see a picture of your storyboards. Mine are just a mess of notecards, but the visual always helps. And I'm so glad you're reading Monolith! I hope you enjoy it! :)
Oh, how I love this, Jess! How generous of you to share your process so transparently. I can feel your excitement about your current project so intensely that I'm getting supercharged about it, and I don't even know what it is. 😂I love that you collect trinkets on your writing explorations.
I guess I am a method writer, although it's a new term for me. I dressed in clothes and shoes like my protagonist would have worn in 1918 when I was drafting. I even sewed and natural dyed some of them, as she probably would have. I went through historic cookbooks and herbals to eat and drink as she would have. It never struck me as nutty at the time because...how else could I know how she felt and thought? Solitude is my "crack" to such a degree that I don't even like music, even instrumental, playing while I write. I make big story boards that are like a triptych collage type thing that probably only makes sense to me. For some unknown reason, scent is very important to me when I write so I light candles, burn things like Lavender and Rose blossoms or whatever triggers the place I want to journey to in my story. I have this kind of ritual when I sit down to write where I light a candle and say, "My creative expressions and self-care are sacred acts of love for myself and the world"...every time. When I forget, the words don't flow. All I know for sure is that whatever our process is, regardless of how kooky, we have to make peace with it and honor it.
P.S. I just got Monolith and am looking forward to reading it!
I think you are a method writer! So many fun immersions. I'd love to see a picture of your storyboards. Mine are just a mess of notecards, but the visual always helps. And I'm so glad you're reading Monolith! I hope you enjoy it! :)