I posed that question to myself. As I thought about the question, I realized my writing routine hasn't been fully developed. The reason for that is a simple one - because my writing is still in development. I write well but not at the level in which I believe I plan to be also my "How" is still maturing.
But so far, this is how I write:
I'm somewhere in between a plotter and a panster. I generally know how the story's main plots especially the end. The opening scene can change from draft to draft. I know my characters from appearance, GMC and to a line of dialogue even to how they interact with other characters. Once that is know, the scenes develop, consuming my mind with details. Then I'm obsessed. Scenes turn into other scenes, I figure out ways to make things worse and sometimes I write out scenes that are just fun (Even if it never is in the draft)
When I'm stuck, I work the scene. Pencil and pad, I go over each characters motivation, their emotion, the setting, how they'll interact with the setting, where the scene has to end, the points needed to be made in the scene, senses, thoughts and anything else that gets writing.
Then my first draft comes, I'm mainly concerned with the plot and getting the story down. There is a great deal of telling, and it's okay to pretty bad. Grammar is not a concern and spelling corrections only happen because the computer does it. But my story is down. Usually I can do a first draft in a six weeks maybe 2 months.
Then I leave it to rest. I have to forget the story. That's the hardest part. My brain is still going over it. then finally I start to forget then its forgotten. And I pick it up again...
This is the hard part, revisions. I focus first on character and emotion. I may add scenes to further develop these two very important techniques. When I write a scene if my character is crying, I want my reader to be tearing up or weeping. I want you love my hero and heroine just as my characters feel it for another. And that is a double-edged sword. I never feel as if the work is good enough but then I feel like the dead horse has been beaten to diced meat.
Then comes the critique, I have a few people that I value their opinion. That is something precious. So of course there are more revisions and more critiques then start the submissions.
That's a post of another color. So how do you write?
