I wonder how many people like doing prep work. You know, taping around doors and windows before you paint your bedroom. Steaming and scraping old wallpaper before you paint or lay down new paper. Or how about hoeing or tilling the ground before planting seeds for a garden.

I don’t always like the prep work for anything involving manual labor. I think it has to do with my intense dislike for sweating. But let me do the prep work for a new story and I’m all over that!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my new story and while I still haven’t found my Plot & Structure book, I’ve been reading up plotting and character development on some great writing blogs (Hi Seekerville Ladies!) I’ve also been looking through my synopsis class notes (Hi Camy Tang!) which will be a tremendous help in getting a synopsis completed BEFORE I write! Yes, I am plotting deep and strong this time around. Today I am printing out my charts and hope to get them filled out this week in preparation for my summer writing spree.

These next three weeks will be spent developing my characters, working on their GMCs, and developing a plot. Today I am printing out my character and GMC charts and will begin getting some of these ideas out of my head and onto paper. Yes, I like to do it by hand, the old fashioned way, when I do my prep work. There is something organic, freeing, and creative in feeling the pen glide across the page.

I love the creative aspect of writing. I love ideas coming together to make a story. I’m getting excited!

How many of you like the prep work? Or do you find it a necessary evil? What is YOUR process?