Writing a novel

I am a writer that has written almost all my life, and most of my early writing was due to being encouraged by my mother, a fourth grade teacher, who always encouraged my creative endeavors. I started to work more seriously on my writing in the middle school years. I have always enjoyed a strong vocabulary, which came from reading on a regular basis....usually a novel in two or three days. My favorite authors were from a gamut of genres. I loved Isaac Asimov, Eddings, and C.S. Lewis. I liked the outdoorsman as hero in literary works like the Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper, Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Last of the Breed by L'Amour. I like a strong hero or lead character and that is sometimes evident in my writing.

I started journalling in college and have continued to journal to the present. I find I have ideas that I like, and want to explore further, and it is easier to remember what I was thinking when I write it down. I think most of my best works have come from my journal. Sometimes I use stream of conciousness to get the writing process started. I just sit with a paper and pen and think of everything that comes to my head while I am thinking about a subject of writing. It usually helps me beat the writer's block, and keeps me on task. I then go through the scribbles on the page, and sort out the things that make sense to pursue further. I read the magazines for writers at the local library as often as I can...they often have some good articles on the writing process. I really enjoyed an interview of John Grisham, and his writing process. He claimed to get up every morning and write from 8 am to about noon, every day. Consistency is one of the patterns of a good writer. I think if I can do anything to improve this in my personal writing, I would probably say that this is what I would need to work on.

I am currently working on a novel, and I am taking it in chunks. Plotting the structure, and the conflict is the first thing I have to do, so I can work the character and dialogue into the plot. I set a daily goal of 1500 words. That is pretty much my process. I do edit after a cool down period of about 48 hours...so I can reread and pick up on the grammatical errors.