hi i started to answer this question and wrote a ton and then it all accidentally got deleted and i got really sad about it but im here again with energy to rewrite my response 🫡 im really sorry about the delay 🙏

my writing process starts out pretty simple honestly! i just don’t feel like it’s very interesting but id be happy to talk about it~ usually i get a random idea that really inspires me (i just think of one scene and the whole story spirals from there). once its sat in my head long enough and convinced me it might be fic worthy, i write out a more detailed synopsis. this doesn’t start out as a very useful resource lol usually it’s me outlining the ~vibes~ of what im wanting to capture. from there, i create more detailed work ups of the characters (histories, motivations, relationships, etc) and this is usually a good place to track how i expect them to evolve throughout the story.

once i have those things outlined, i usually know enough to summarize the main plot points of the story, like beats i know i want to hit and that make up the basic skeleton, so i add that to my synopsis just so i can reference it whenever im stuck. its sort of like a roadmap, no matter what happens in between i need to stay on track with those points. at that point, i also usually have an ending in mind but its almost never the ending i end up using lol. if you look at my notes, i’ll always have a little note in the synopsis like “if it were up to me, it would end like this but no one would like that so instead this is the ending”.

i also make sure that i jot down any particular themes, motifs, symbols etc that come to me in the creative process so i don’t forget and can weave them into the narrative naturally. a big part of my process has to do with establishing a musical connection as well, so i always create a very detailed in depth playlist full of music that inspires me and relates to the story. i don’t always share the playlist because i don’t think it’s very good? and it’s usually not made up of music i listen to on a regular basis.

once all those things are done i start writing! i don’t write chronologically. i feel like if i have a good enough grasp on my characters and the story direction, it doesn’t matter what order the scenes are written in. i already have all the context as the creator, and if something comes up in the writing process that i know will be important to circle back to narratively and keep as a thread, i’ll either make a note or just take care of it right away. i reread my own work a lot in the process to check for consistency even if i don’t really like reading back my writing, because i want to make sure all my threads get tied up. so i always write whatever scene im called to write at the time, and i feel comfortable jumping around the timeline. sometimes i’ll be in the mood to do cleanup work, which is just connecting scenes with intuitive transitions and filling out the more boring but necessary pieces.

and then it’s basically done! not very interesting but that’s what the process looks like. i hope this answers your question okay ><~