I am a discovery writer. When I was young I would sit down with nothing but a vague idea and the world and characters would pop out as I wrote. Now that I’m older, and have more skill, I tend to have some of the story itself planned out, maybe vague ideas for the world and characters before I start, but for the most part I can’t plan too much or I flounder.
And I love being a discovery writer because of how those ideas seem to come from nowhere. I get ideas for stories from all over the place, but when I am in the process of writing, I just write my characters doing things or stuff about the world and that random stuff turns out to be super important later in the story. It basically feels like magic, like my brain is working on a higher level and puts things together without me realizing it. Moments like these are always awesome writing moments.
For example: I had Tabitha like apples. I’m pretty sure it started out that way because her kingdom is always in autumn, and apples are a fall crop. Later I realized the apples were part of a very important plot point.
It is this ability for my mind to make these connections that gives me a lot of comfort when I’m writing and feel like I have no idea where I’m going. I’ve learned to trust myself. One of my mantras is: “There is a way all of this will make sense, I just have to find it.”
