Yesterday, I posted about the inspiration behind The Devil Within. So what happens after inspiration hits? I think the question I get the most as an author is: where do your ideas come from? And honestly, objects, things, sayings all inspire the ideas, but when I sit down to write it’s like magic. Here’s where the magic happens, in my writing space:

I write in a La-Z-Boy recliner in the middle of our living room (excuse the mess on the floor). The chair I sit in was handed down from my Gipop after Gigi passed away. I remember when I was little and would go over to their house, my grandfather would sit in this chair and read all the time. I have an emotional attachment to this chair, because it reminds me of him.

The kids are often running around, talking to me, or watching TV while I write away. I like being in the center of it all instead of locked in a room away from everyone. When I start writing, I put on my pink headphones, hit shuffle on Pandora, and then my fingers start walking across the keyboard. I’m a pantser (write from the seat of my pants), but I do research and I make character sketches. Not so much a written sketch, as I put descriptions, personality quirks, etc. into an excel spreadsheet. This is specifically useful if you have a lot of characters or if halfway through the book you mention blonde hair on your protagonist when she really has brown.

Earlier I mentioned magic, and I do believe that’s what writing is. There’s no way to describe what it’s like when I’m in the zone. It’s a feeling of being only semi-present. The music falls into the background, and I don’t even really hear it. The words come out and sometimes I’m surprised by the similes and metaphors that appear on the page. Most writers I know have had this experience of being bodily present but their mind being in a higher realm. I’m not a religious person, but there is something spiritual about the writing process.

Stay tuned for more about the writing of The Devil Within.