Jeffrey Briggs interviewed local authors Jeanne Matthews and Alice K. Boatwright about their personal processes for getting from the blank page to the finished manuscript. He even suggested adding a fourth “R” to the mix: Repeat!
Some of the topics covered were:
Research
- Both authors use a wide variety of resources such as news articles, the web, personal experience, living in or visiting locales used for stories, web-based real estate sites for housing values, comparing legal differences between regions or countries, etc.
- Jeanne says she uses research as a “catalyst” for story ideas.
- Alice writes first and uses research to support specific content.
Rewriting
- Jeanne writes scene by scene but doesn’t necessarily recommend it to other writers.
- Alice considers first drafts a “pencil drawing” and “underwrites” first time around.
- Both do many drafts.
- Both encourage reading work aloud.
Rechecking
- Both authors advocate rechecking manuscripts for consistency, accuracy as well as for story and character arcs.
- Rechecking is more fact checking than revision.
For example, does a 1968 Mickey Mouse watch show time and date?