So, I’m feeling pretty freaking loved right about now 🙂 I’ve actually had three people invite me to the Writing Process Blog Tour, so let me start off by introducing them:

Kate and Britt of Twintype Books

This was one of the very first blogs I followed when I first started blogging. These two–in addition to being just plain fun to read–have really perfected the art of co-writing something, and I’m fascinated by how their writing process works. Also, their blog is a fantastic resource for both the writing process and the labyrinth of publishing.

Tara Sim of Each Star a World 

Tara and I attended the magical Hollins University together, and I have had the delight of watching her writing grow and evolve for many years. Her blog features very thoughtful and helpful insights for fellow writers, as well as some of her own original stories. She also twitters here: @EachStarAWorld

Kathryn of Nine Pages

Kathryn is another charming and brilliant Hollins Alumna. I was lucky enough to have shared some writing workshops with her during the school years. Check out her blog for book reviews, her “picture book roundup” feature, and the Legal Theft project (Which is one of the neatest things I’ve seen in the blog world!)

And now here are the blog tour questions:

What am I working on?

I am currently in the second-draft edits for a science fiction / experimental novella. This was actually a short story that I wrote many many years ago, and while I loved the idea behind it, there just wasn’t enough room to really explore these characters. Alas, I lacked the inspiration for expanding it until just recently. I plan on kneading this one for another month or so, and then let it rise for a while. (Wish I could take credit for that awesome bread analogy, but that’s another gem from that book I’m reading: One Continuous Mistake. Y’all seriously need to check this book out…)

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It really depends on what project we’re talking about. In general, the most off-the-path thing I do in my writing is incorporate mathematics when I can. I really love numbers, and any time I can have characters solving their problems with a neat equation, I’m going to be one happy wordsmith.

Why do I write what I do?

I can’t explain it any better than this little story: Hollins has a senior reading where I got to read a short excerpt from the novel I wrote as my senior thesis. It was a true math/literary hybrid, and I had so much fun combining my passions so completely. After the reading, a classmate (and I wish I could remember her name!) came up to me and said, “If I’d had that book growing up, I probably wouldn’t hate math today.”

How does my writing process work?

My first draft is generally a delicious mess. I don’t delete anything on the first run-through, so the draft has skeletal remains of abandoned scenes throughout. I also skip things. Example: clever plans. Most of my characters are much smarter than me, so I’ll write up to the point of “Okay guys, here’s the plan…” Then type [the plan] and worry about it in the second draft. I’ll also skip fight scenes, exposition, description of settings, and anything to do with geography. So, as you can imagine, my second draft is even more work than the first. I can’t say I’ll always use this method, but right now it’s really helping me because I don’t stress out so much over the first draft. Once I have a full, complete document (however patchy) I’m no longer distracted by the fear of “Wow, what if I can’t actually write this?” and that allows me to do a more thoughtful job with my research and details and practical aspects of the book.

My instructions are to nominate people now… but I suppose I’m rather a late-bloomer in this particular blog tour, because every blog I check has already participated.  So, if you’re reading this, haven’t participated, and want to, tell me in the comments and I’ll nominate you 🙂