My writing process laid bare

This is how I cook my stories!

Hello there!

Today I really fancy sharing my “secret recipe” for starting a new manuscript. I'm going to walk you through the stages of my creative process, from the first spark to the moment the book is ready for judgement.

First, a confession: I'm a map writer. No compass, no winging it! I need my plan of attack, and it all starts, logically enough, with a good brainstorm about the plot. Sometimes the idea arrives like a bolt of lightning, crystal clear. But most of the time (let's be honest, nearly always) it's more like a downpour of loose notes I catch on the wing over several days. The result is a handful of decent ideas on the table.

So what do I do with all that chaos? Bring order to it! I pour everything into one document and start outlining each idea. The curious part is that a lot of them turn out to be jigsaw pieces that fit together and merge into a single story.

When I finally know what I want to write about, the real party begins: imagining the whole story!

And here comes my personal quirk: I build the story backwards! Yes, you read that right. I think first about the ending and about the strongest twists. Then I draw a complete timeline, from the resolution back to the beginning, and work on that. It's like knowing your final destination before you take the first step.

Once the backbone of the story is properly defined (and the main characters signed up!), it's time for the research. After that I move to my go-to program to build the definitive skeleton: a list of every chapter with a summary of what happens in each one.

Only then, with everything perfectly structured, do I open Word and start typing. Let the game begin!

From that point on it's simply a matter of putting hours in every day to build each chapter. And here's a trick of the house: since I already know exactly what happens in each one, I don't care what order I write them in! If I wake up with fierce inspiration for one particular scene, I go straight for it. That way I use the energy of the moment without any risk of losing my way.

And that, grosso modo, is how the first draft of the manuscript is born.

As you can see, I write the way I paint: from the general to the particular. With every revision I add layers of detail to enrich the plot, but always knowing the main skeleton stays intact.

Another day I'll tell you the secrets of the editing and typesetting stage!

Thank you for coming along on this personal journey. See you in the next posts and stories!

Jose M. Aldasoro

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