I am also a polish as I go person, and on a new book where I have been "pantsing it" that takes on special proportions, LOL.

I also don't like to discuss what my books are about until at least when I have sent them to my agent - that way I know she's got them, and there's a formal submission in place, but even so, I tend to be vague about it -- except with CPs, who probably hear more than they want to. ;)

I think it's smart to protect your work... it's protecting your thinking about it, too.

Although I do have to have a title almost from the start.. having a good working title for me is something that must be there almost from the start... it could change when eds get hold of it, but I couldn't write with a placeholder title -- it would drive me bonkers... I think because it's very closely married to my conception of what the book is about, in it's pithiest sense. Which can change, but *something* that works for me has to be there.

Interestingly, I have written several books that started with just the title -- I get the title first, then find the book. Not always, but interesting when that happens...

Sam

having an idea or a keyword for the title helps give more insight to the book itself as you go?
Even though I have no cp or am published, I find myself lately not wanting to talk in depth about a story I'm writing. It seems we all, pubbed or not, don't want to share in case someone else writes about the same. I will say I had an idea recently, and discovered another writer used the same premise! Hers were pubbed within the past year (3 stories). But then I thought, she writes her way, I write mine.
I also have found that if my beginning couple scenes are not polished - I can't move on! But now that I know this, I won't struggle so much. I hope.

Great post, Diana, and I enjoyed Sarah's, too :) Not a writer here, but I can understand wanting to keep one's work to oneself for a while. It seems a bit like keep a delicious secret to oneself for a bit, to more to savor it for a while. And yes, seeing as how even a short comment can take me forever to write, a book is VERY VERY hard to write! Yay you!

1. Perhaps because we "learned" to write together, Diana and I have a similar horrid process. Write, polish, edit, back and forth. Diana started before me so I'm blaming this process on her. She has a lot to answer for. ;-)

2. The Super authors had an interesting email conversation two years ago about conflict and in the course of the conversation it turned out three of us had submitted books with a car accident and drinking as part of the plot. Our first reactions were all horror because it was obvious Superromance wouldn't be publishing three identical books so rejection must be on the way. Then we shared some details and the books were all totally different. All three did get published. Marcie's right--my story is not your story, no matter how close the ideas are.

3. I've seen Diana's book and I know the plot. Anyone who wants in on the secret should send me $27 and a bag of plain M&M's. If you send a party-size bag, I'll update you when she starts brainstorming titles. Trust me, this book is wonderful and original and absolutely worth a little black market bribery!

;-)

I slap the entire book together. I know the scenes, so I write them, then connect them later. I stash them in folders and then pull them out and stick them in when I start writing from beginning to end. (I just heard those gasps of horror from the linear threesome.)

Sometimes I write the first three chapters and then start the scene writing. I go back and forth, back and forth. By the time I'm done, I've rewritten the beginning about five or six times, to make it match the middle and end, the middle about three times to make it match the end, and I usually write the ending once as I'm driving to UPS to send it off by deadline.

And that is my process.

shocked me so much I think I'll go back to work. The day job that is.
My mouth is hanging open - in shock or awe -not sure.

Mine's messy, to say the least. I usually have some kind of working title, but frustrate the hell out of my husband by not using it (it seems presumptuous somehow, like I'm a "real author" if I give my books titles). So I'll use character names when we talk, but then he doesn't remember the story, which is no surprise given that he doesn't remember the names of my two best high school friends and he's known these women 20 years. Then I go by plot. Which leads to my process, which is to write a bunch of stuff about the characters and rework it until I have a book. I will never get to do seminars about my writing process...no color-coded sticky notes, no diagrams, no charts or whiteboards...just a bunch of words and an ever-increasing "deleted" file.

So Jeannie, I feel your pain!

Anne
www.annecalhoun.com
www.annecalhoun.wordpress.com

Hey guys--it works for me. I try writing front to back, but I always have to revamp, so why not just dab a little color here, add some spice there and then connect it all up.

Ellen--I do have to change things when I connect everything up, but not as much as one might think.

Anne--Anyone who writes is a "real" author. Glad to meet another nonlinear.

Jeannie

Can't wait to meet all our new friends who Google "naked and upside down" and end up here.

Sorry to disappoint, guys. Just writing talk.