Today, you will receive the components I use to assemble my novels. Be prepared. I don’t skimp. I only use the highest quality ingredients and maybe a few unconventional elements as well.

Let’s get started. Aprons! Aprons, everyone! Alright, we’re going to start out by pre-heating thermostats to a comfortable seventy-three degrees. This will allow you, the writer, a perfect temperature to assemble your masterpiece. Moving on, ladies!

Step One, Ideas! Be choosy when picking your idea. Ideas should be firm and ripe, no blemishes. When you find one that appears to be acceptable, examine the idea. There should be no bruises and sweet to taste. Each idea should have a believable conflict, well developed characters, and a descriptive setting but above all your idea should have spunk. It should shine like a diamond in a sea of dirt.

Step Two, plotting out your idea. Personally, I use a cork board and about five hundred post its. Occasionally, I’ll need string and pins but only for the most involved plot. You may use anything that appeals to you by the way of organization but for explanation purposes I’ll assume you use my own tried method. By the end of your plotting prep, your ‘cork board’ should be a  sea of literal yellow.

Start out by developing  your characters. Each of my characters gets their own note. On every note includes a detailed description of their role, e.g A/B character and what makes them unique, any struggles that can affect them, etc. and any enemies they may have. Then, I plot out my major plot points. Several post it notes are usually dedicated to this part of the process. Starting from the beginning, each plot point leads to the next until the book is complete. I leave spaces between these plot points for sub plots as well as chapter occurrences.

Next, subplots! Much like the major plot points, these get their own notes as well and they fit quite nicely between.

Any specific occurrences I want to happen within the chapters get their own notes as well and placed appropriately.

Step Three, Chapter configuration. Okay, here, I label my corkboard with each designated chapter. I decide what I want included in each one and separate accordingly.

Step Four, Thesaurus. Keep your thesaurus at your fingertips. Personally, I use thesaurus.com but there are a few ‘old schooler’s’ out there who prefer the tangible book. Either way, keep it handy.

Step Five, ‘The No Way Process’. Before I sit at my desk, I go through the notes with an ‘aerial view’ sort of mentality. I ask myself questions that the reader may ask. Like, ‘why don’t they just use their cell phone?’ Or, ‘No one would act like that’. Or, ‘Would I be willing to give such-and-such a second chance if they did that to me?’ Essentially, I try to make it as believable but as exciting as possible. I smooth out the wrinkles, so to speak.

Step Six, Writing. From there, I sit. I open my laptop and I take my writing from step to step. I don’t go off on tangents. I stay clear on my path and use my words to make the idea come alive!

Step Seven, Completion. The novel is complete. I am ready to edit. I edit once. Then, I edit again. Then, once more. There, I feel like I’m done. Which means I edit at least twice more. I edit…a lot. Then, off to a paid editor. Then, beta readers.

Step Eight, Fin’! You’re finished! Your incredible little story is three hundred or whatever pages and it’s sitting on your hardrive. It’s shiny and new and perfect. Tee hee! But wait! There’s still one more step! Don’t stop here! At this point, you may stand from your computer, do a ridiculous dance, embarrassing yourself and whoever else is in the room. Then, you call your fellow writers and you all cry together that it’s done. You meet said authors for martinis. You all celebrate into the wee hours of the night.

And then you do that laundry that’s been sitting neglected for weeks and has been growing into a solid monster, complete with head and fangs.

That’s it. My recipe.

I’m currently riding the high that is my ‘The 25 Day Tour of Bad Aces’! Come visit today’s host, the amazing, Patti Larsen! Thank you for hosting me, Patti! Read my post about the tour here. Also, at the end of every post on the tour is a giveaway link for a signed copy of my newest novel, Callum & Harper!

Come see what’s new at the Carnival this week!

The rest of my Indie cast are all awaiting your beautiful eyes. So go…
The Amazing Dani Snell
The Incredible Patti Larsen
The Talented Courtney Cole
The Witty Wren Emerson
The Accomplished Nicole Williams
The Clever Laura Elliott
The Skillful Amy Jones
The Staggering P.J. Hoover
The Brilliant Alicia McCalla
The Resplendent Heather Cashman
The Lustrous Abbi Glines
The Polished Cheri Schmidt
The Inventive Cidney Swanson
The Radiant Rachel Coles
The Gifted T.R. Graves
The Phenomenal Cyndi Tefft
The Lovely Lexus Luke
The Sassy Suzy Turner
The Exceptional Gwenn Wright
The Stupendous Kimberly Kinrade
The Quick J.L. Bryan
The Saucy Darby Karchut
The Magnificent M. Leighton
The Impressive Madeline Smoot