I'm writing. The pages are starting to stack up. My morale is improving the more I feel like a writer. ― Neil Gaiman

The writing process fascinates me, and I’m always interested in hearing about how other writers write. .What do you like about writing? Is it coming up with the storyline or a character? Is it that first flow of words onto the page? Is it the revision process, making the manuscript better and better? What do you dislike about the process? (I really dislike doing synopses.) I’d love to hear about your own writing process.

As for me, I worked off and on on my young adult science fiction novel for at least a decade, maybe longer. As most of us well know, it’s hard juggling family, work, general life maintenance, and writing. I’ve been retired from “regular” work for a while now, and the extra time has allowed me to complete the novel and start an agent search.

The upside of having so many years to work on the story is that it gave me plenty of time to mentally inhabit the world I was trying to create and really get to know it. I’m still getting to know it, but that’s for a different blog post.

My point is that writing takes a lot of contemplation, and I’m grateful for the gift of time to simply think about my story. That’s something you can do most anywhere. For me, it’s often while I’m waiting in a line. I believe that just thinking about your story can be as productive as actually writing it, especially if you’re hitting snags or having writer’s block. (See The Writing Process #2 blog post.)

Don’t let the blank page intimidate you. Instead, in your head travel to the world and the characters you’ve created and start thinking about them, in a relaxed state of mind if you can. It doesn’t matter which character or location in time and space you choose to focus on, just make it one you like or are interested in at the moment, and go there in your imagination. Then start asking yourself what-if questions. I find that this will often bump me out of whatever rut I’m in story-wise, and I can start working on the book again.