Goodreads Q&A

Greetings,

I'm currently in the midst of a wonderful author Q&A on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/878321-q-and-a-with-arleen-williams.  Because I can't figure out how to post a photo on Goodreads, I've jumped to my blog.  

For those who have jumped with me, here's the photo I mentioned of the storyboard:

And here's my latest response on Goodreads...


Hi Jack,

I was thinking a bit more about your last question and I realized that if we're talking about process and self-editing, I'm leaving a big hole in the middle... and that is the number of times I see and read each sentence and paragraph before it reaches a manuscript.

For those unfamiliar with timed writing practice, let me explain that most writers use pen and paper. So that means, in terms of style and self-editing, I see and read my scenes aloud after the first write.

Then I see them again as I type and save them. I save them as individual pieces, in appropriate computer folders, and I tend to label them according to the storyboard I have on my writing room wall (here I'd like to insert a picture of the story board, but since I can't figure out how to do that, I'll send you to my blog at http://www.arleenwilliams.com to see the storyboard!)

When I have enough scenes to start lacing together a manuscript, I read again as I pull scenes from folders and put them into manuscript form. As the manuscript grows, I read aloud on a regular basis to hear how the story flows.

Though seemingly cumbersome, especially to those who prefer to draft on computer, all of those steps contribute to the self-editing process.

Now, I'm headed to my blog to post that picture of my storyboard. This is for a new novel that is still in the planning stages, so the board is very simple showing only the plot lines. No subplots are currently included. As to the two colors, those represent points of view of the two main characters.