1. In my *ideas* notebook, I flip through what I’ve scribbled down in moments of
inspiration and see if something grabs me. If not, I ask myself “What if…”
until something gets me excited.
2. Start writing the 1st draft, one scene at a time.
3. Leave the finished draft for a week or two, then take it out and read it, making notes
on what to revise.
4. Send this 2nd draft out to beta readers with questions for them to answer.
5. While waiting for all their feedback, start researching agents and publishers, which
I keep in another notebook.
6. Go over the beta feedback and figure out what is useful, what you want to incorporate,
and what doesn’t feel right for your book. Apply everything to create a 3rd draft.
7. Do a developmental edit (structure/plot/character/overall coherence)
8. Do a line edit (sentence structure/word choices/tone & voice/pacing)
9. Do a copy edit (spelling/grammar/punctuation)
10. Start querying (sending it out) to agents and publishers.
And now…we wait!
Well actually, now we start working on the next book.