Writing Lab: Your Writing Routine @whereisjakeryan by Amber L. Johnson

Amber L. Johnson is the author of Maybe.

Could you describe your writing routine and your experience writing this novel? Do you think this novel changed you as a writer? If "yes", how?

Throughout the years, my writing routine has changed and evolved until it’s pretty much not a routine at all. In the beginning I wrote in the late hours of the night and early hours of the mornings before and after work - after my son would finally go down for bed. Then I started bringing my stuff to work so that I could fit in some time away from the house while on my lunch break. That quickly turned into just writing whenever there was a free opportunity, which is probably why I initially wrote so much in such a short amount of time. 

For the last year I have either been rewriting or editing books so the honest truth is that I don’t have a routine at all right now. And I really miss it. I miss being able to have my notebook with the chapters outlined sitting on the table while I concentrate on getting the story out of my head. I miss blocking out the world for a couple hours with my headphones in and just losing myself in something I find so much joy in. 

With Maybe, the original draft was written in the span of 3 months. All 200,000 words. When it went into the publication process it was decided that it not only needed to be shortened, but it needed to literally be rewritten from scratch. I had about 3 weeks to rip the book apart by the seams and put it back together. And I’m not talking about deleting a scene. I mean fully redoing the plot, killing off 20 characters and changing the entire POV.

In the long run I know that experience affected and changed me as a writer for the better because I proved that I could do it. I know this story and these characters so well that I could tell their story any way I needed to.

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Thank you, Amber L. Johnson!

Fellow writers, do you have a writing routine?

Your comments are welcome!