From Manuscript to Published Book: My Writing Process

A post about my writing process, from handwritten manuscript to printed book

When I posted this photo on my Facebook author page the other day, wondering whether or not to keep the notebooks containing the first draft of my latest novel, Driven to Murder, which will be published on Friday 26th January, I was blown away by readers’ interest and enthusiasm in my writing process. Inspired by a question from my friend Carol Jennings, I thought I’d use this week’s blog post to explain just how I write a novel.

PLANNING A BOOK

Before I start writing a book, I plan the plot. A surprising number of authors start writing without knowing what’s going to happen next. Lee Child is a famous example of this approach, which is known in the trade as being a pantser (as in “fly by the seat of your pants”) or, more poetically, a discovery writer. That’s not for me: I like to have a basic plan, not least because I write mysteries, and I want to know from the start who my criminals are.

Agatha Christie didn’t work that way: legend has it that she used to get part way through writing a novel, send the partial manuscript to friends inviting them to guess who the murderer would be, and then she’d pick the one that fewest of them guessed.

My plan starts out as a single sentence per chapter, always by hand, and often on notecards, which make it easier to change the order of events as the story comes together.

Then I type it up, and at that stage I start adding in a few details as they occur to me – character names, details of setting, timing, and more.

I print it out in large print so that it’s easy to see at a glance, and leave lots of white space on the page so that I can scribble more notes on it as I go along, fleshing it out into a more substantial outline.

WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT

Then I grab a fresh new notebook – soft-backed Moleskine, from choice – and start writing by hand, working my way sequentially through the plan without stopping.

Some writers don’t write their books in the same order as their finished story, but write the start and finish first, then fill in the bits in between. A popular remedy for anyone who thinks they have writer’s block (which I don’t believe in, but I’ll save that conversation for another post) to skip any sections they’re struggling with, and to come back to write those later.

I always write my first drafts by hand – there’s a previous post here if you’d like to know more about that – but essentially it’s because I write fiction more fluently and naturally than when I’m typing, even though I’m a very fast touch-typist.

There is plenty of scientific evidence demonstrating that handwriting taps in more effectively to the creative part of your brain than typing does.

Before I start a fresh writing session, I usually reread the last chapter I’ve written, to remind me where I left off. I don’t write  every day – there’s too much else going on in my life – but when I’m working on a new novel, I write at least a chapter a day. I scribble a few edits on it as I’m reading, but the bulk of the editing starts when I’m typing it up.

When my daughter’s home from university, she kindly types my manuscripts for me to speed up the process, in return for fair payment, of course!

THE SELF-EDITING PROCESS

Then I print out the typescript and edit the fresh paper copy by hand, before typing in the edits on my computer.

Rinse and repeat, as the saying goes… I usually go through this process quite a few times, until I can’t think of any more improvements. Then it’s ready to go to my publisher for structural edits.

THE PUBLISHER’S EDITING PROCESS

The structural editor sends me back notes – eg this chapter isn’t necessary; this bit needs more details; you’ve jumped from Wednesday to Friday with no Thursday in between; hang on, Susan just entered the room twice without leaving it in between.

I make changes to reflect her suggestions, send her back the revised copy, which she checks, before forwarding it to a copy editor, who checks the language, sense and continuity, before returning to me yet another set of recommendations.

After I’ve processed the copy editor’s feedback, the manuscript goes to the proofreader. Technically the proofreader is just looking for typos and layout errors, but if she spots anything the others have missed, she’ll flag those up too.

So then it’s a last round of checking for me, reading every word now to make sure no further errors have cropped up in the meantime. By this time I can practically recite the whole book and can’t wait to get it off my desk.

I send this final copy to my publisher, who sends it to production for “cleaning“, ie removing all the comments and conversations that the editing team have marked up on the manuscript, and formatting it in their house style ready for publication.

And we’re done! Hurrah!

TO PRINT AT LAST (AND EBOOK AND AUDIO…)

In the meantime, I start planning my next book, and am usually so immersed in the new story that by the time the edited book is ready for launch, I’ve almost forgotten about it.

Then comes a flurry of preparation for its release, including writing blog posts and other launch material for my publisher.

I also dream up PR ideas for my own blog and social media – such as taking the picture of the manuscript notebooks and my first printed copy, which I shared on Facebook and Instagram earlier this week.

Which is where I came in…

IT’S NEARLY LAUNCH DAY!

Driven to Murder will be launched this coming Friday, 26th January, on all the usual retail platforms, in ebook, paperback, audio, hardback and large print. The paperback and ebook are already available to preorder here.

Climb aboard for an entertaining journey with Sophie Sayers as she seeks to solve the mystery of a murder on the village bus and to save the vital bus service from being axed – preferably without any more murders along the way!

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