How do you write? A question for anyone writing a story. How do you write? Do you plan everything out and then write the story, or do you sit down and let your fingers lead the way?

I have always been the type to have a story idea and just start writing. I hate planning things out. Every story I have ever tried to plan out has just backfired on me. I remember reading something about Stephen King and how he writes his stories as they come and I got excited that I wrote like my favorite author.

I have found some of the weirdest things have inspired my stories as well. I have one story that I was inspired to write because I kept waking up tired, not matter how little or how much sleep I got. Honestly, I still wake up tired all the time. That is a story I am still working on and I hope to be able to do more with it this year. I have had dreams inspire stories and pictures. I have even overheard conversations that inspired a story.

When the idea hits, I just start writing. I don’t know where the story is going until I get there. I have had to backtrack a few times. It’s like one of those maze puzzles you find on the back of a cereal box. I make a wrong turn and find myself at a dead end. I have to go back and find where the story started going wonky and fix it.

If I sit with a story too long trying to figure out the logistics of it, I can’t seem to get it off the ground. I just write until my fingers are numb (I have carpal tunnel, I meant it literally), or someone interrupts me and I lose my train of thought. I think that is one of the biggest reasons I have been unable to write as much lately, because I don’t have long periods of time that I can zone out and forget the world. Even though the puppy now sits at my feet while I am in my office, she still likes to chew on things she shouldn’t.

The other day the puppy chewed through the cable of my keyboard while I was in the middle of typing “embarassment.” Talk about being ticked! I know, I should have been paying more attention, but I could hear her chewing on her bone! She had a toy and a bone to chew on and somehow made her way to my keyboard cord. It’s okay though, I got a new keyboard and it feels nice and sounds amazing!

I think I may have jumped topic a little bit.

So tell me, how do you write? Do you plan for days/weeks/months? Do you sit and see where the wind sends you? I love figuring out the twist in my stories as I am writing them. It’s like I am reading the story for the first time, but also the one writing it. Trust me, it has never been my decision to kill a favorite character. The story made me do it!