What's your writing process?

Recently, a fellow writer experienced a minor case of writer's block asked some other writers about their non-fiction writing process.

This is something I have honed to a fine art (for me!) and I'm happy to share mine with other writers.

I have a friend who frequently struggles with writer's block. She was taught that her story starts with a strong lead -- and all writing flows from that. I couldn't disagree more!

I never do the lead first. I don't know what it will be until I've gotten the research analyzed, which happens as I go through my notes.

First, I type in my byline! No idea why, habit, but it reassures me each time. Perhaps I feel like I'm planting my flag -- staking out the territory -- declaring my intention to do a story that lives up to my own standards.

Or maybe it's just a habit.

Then, I take all my research and I get it "in shape." I type it in, weeding out stuff that's not germane; as I type it in (or retype), I make sure each chunk is print-ready. In paragraphs, no typos, quotes attributed. In fact, if I'm doing whole interviews (if the article has more than one interviewed, especially) I do it like this:

"First, I take all my research and I get it in shape," Schmoe said.
"I type it in, weeding out stuff that's not germane; as I type it in (or retype), I make sure each chunk is print-ready. In paragraphs, no typos, quotes attributed," Schmoe said.
"In fact, if I'm doing whole interviews (if the article has more than one interviewed, especially) I do it like this," Schmoe said.

Once I have the notes typed in, I save a new copy. This way, I don't accidentally eliminate something from a previous incarnation of the story. I put all the copies in the same folder, and label them in order, usually with an abbreviation of the client publication name, the main subject name, and the number of the copy, like this: TIME Schmoe 3.

Sometimes to differentiate speakers in one document, I will highlight the copy from different sources at this stage. Later, the extra names and highlighting comes off.

After this, I cut and paste the research -- facts and quotes etc. and group related research together in clumps. The shortcuts for this in Word are Control+X for cut, Control+C for copy, Control+V for paste. Again, I save a copy and work from that.

Then, I order the clumps -- first, next, last, etc. -- via cut and paste.

By this time, I have a stronger idea of the precise lead, and I develop that.

Then I go through all of it, smooth the transitions, look for stuff that needs weeded out, holes.
If I have questions that need answered, I write them at the top, above my byline, a reminder to do them.

Throughout the process, I frequently read things aloud. This helps catch things that LOOK okay but aren't.

I double-check my own facts and names, making sure I have titles and companies correct. If numbers are iffy, I make sure they're accurate.

This is how I get to a polished story that's ready to print. Or to be edited.

I'd love feedback about YOUR writing process.

To see how other writers write, check out this forum on Mediabistro.com:

http://mediabistro.com/bbs/cache/t38115_1.asp

Coming into print later in the game?

How old is too old to get into writing? I know a writer who published her first books in her late 70s. Conversely, I know a woman who told me wistfully that, at 42, she was too old to pursue her first love of writing. I assured her she most certainly was not -- but I remember feeling that way at 27.

The key is to just do it. Get started, in a small way if need be. The way to eat an elephant? A bite at a time.

Check out this WritersWeekly.com article by a woman grappling with the idea of getting into writing. http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/004016_04252007.html or this piece by Wendy C. Allen on Helium.com. http://www.helium.com/tm/784960/never-young-become-writersenior.
Also on Helium.com, Johan Dahlberg gives several reasons you're never too old to write: http://www.helium.com/tm/634477/writing-something-people-assuming.

While school courses in English and writing and literature are helpful, don't allow those voices from past teachers or others who may not have known how to be helpful to affect how you feel about writing or what you're ready to learn about it. Most teachers know how to encourage talent, but someone may have deterred you or scared you or bullied you as a writer. Maybe you got a C- in Grade 10 English. Let that go. You may need new voices, a new star to steer by.

I have a friend who, like many authors before her, took rejection of her novel manuscript very personally, so it sat on her shelf. I haven't read it, so I don't know if it's literary treasure or trash, but I encouraged her to get writing for a local publication on a regular basis. She did that, and her writing has grown by leaps and bounds; she's even working on her book again.

For me, the impetus to get past the inertia of past failures came in the form of an aptitude test I took as an adult that pretty much told me writing was all I was fit for! It confirmed a few things I had hoped but hadn't dared dream -- and gave me the chutzpah not to look back for two decades of sheer, willful, stubborn progress.

The message to new writers? You can do this. The message to seasoned writers? You can encourage someone else.

For a list of elements of news writing, check out this Google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=writing+news