On facebook this morning, Ed Erdelac​ tagged me for a SEVEN UNKNOWN THINGS ABOUT MY WRITING PROCESS meme going around.  So, I came up with seven things.

1) I have to get into the mood sometimes with music.  Sometimes, it’s just turning on something to click into writing mode and sometimes I have to set the mood with scene/story appropriate music.
2) I tend to write best with music.  I tend to favor instrumental stuff.  The God of War 2 soundtrack is a big one.  Karl Sanders’ solo albums, Saurian Meditations/Exorcisms are definitely ones I use a lot.  And years ago, I made a Deadlands playlist that consists of a lot of Ennio Morricone and various other artists.
3) I think this is fairly normal but I can’t really get going if someone can look over my shoulder or be up and moving around me.  I can counter this in public if I have a corner booth or something against my back or I’m using a notebook.
4) I have a leather journal that symbolizes a true, earnest start to being a writer.  I have two of my first short stories in it (“Dead Blood” and “System Crash”) as well as various little bits of note or scribbles.
5)  At first, I wanted to do all my first drafts in the journal but I’ve since grown comfortable with banging everything out on the keyboard and not editing as I go.  I was always bad about that when writing on the computer.  I’d get out a paragraph and then start changing it, derailing myself.
6) For new writing (new story, new section, new pagraph), sometimes it’s excruciating getting the first couple of sentences out.  But once I do, I usually start moving pretty easily.
7) This isn’t really “writing process” but I really feel like I’ve grown considerably in skill over the past year.  I’ve written more than I ever have and I’m reading stories from new friends and peers and I can feel myself growing much more confident and starting to find my own voice more.  It feels so good.

Welp, that’s me.