Ingrid Seymour Talks Writing

I’d like to welcome author Ingrid Seymour. I asked her one question, which was: What’s your writing process? Read on to find out what she said.

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My writing process is something I have developed and perfected through the years. But it’s not something written in stone and with every book, it seems to change a little.

At the core of everything, I’m what in the writer community is referred as a pantser. What this means is that when I sit down to write, I don’t know exactly what will happen next. Many writers are the opposite and they are call outliners. In their case, they develop an plan or step by step playbook of how their novel will evolve from chapter to chapter.

I’ve tried doing an outline a few times, but it simply doesn’t work for me. I just cannot come up with a story by doing a series of bullet points. The process makes my creativity shrivel up and hide. For me, that way is horrible! Really. I hated it and it just made me love being a pantser even more 🙂

So I normally start with a premise, a minimum set of characters and a handful of plot points which I know I need to hit. I don’t write them down. They’re just in my head. Once I have that, I begin to write and the story takes shapes. New characters and plot lines are born as the story requires them. It is very organic.

When I’m working on a novel, my daily goal is one thousand words a day and, depending on the genre, it can take me anywhere from 60 to 90 days to complete the first draft. Once the first draft is done, I take another 30 days to polish and create a second draft. Once that is done, the book is ready to go to beta readers. They will normally have some comments which I will consider and may generate extra changes for a third draft. From there, the story goes either to my agent or my editor, depending on whether I’m going the traditional or indie route, respectively.

So, that is my high level writing process. Along the way, there are other nuisances and pet peeves that influence the way I write every day, but these are the highlights.

Every author has a different process, and that process is just perfect for that person. There is no right or wrong way as long as the end product is a wonderful novel! 🙂

Ignite The Shadows (Ignite The Shadows #1) by Ingrid Seymour
Published by: HarperVoyager
Publication date: April 23rd 2015
Genres: Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Marci Guerrero is one of the best teen hackers in Seattle. However, she’d give up all her talents to know she isn’t crazy.

Marci feels possessed by what she perceives as shadowy spectres that take control of her body and make her do crazy things. While spying on the clandestine group known as IgNiTe, she’s confronted by the leader, James McCray. His presence stirs the spectres inside her brain into a maddening frenzy. Her symptoms and ability to control them don’t go unnoticed by James, who soon recruits her and shows her the awful truth.

Half of the world’s population is infected by sentient parasites. They bind themselves to the human brain and replace the pathways for all thoughts and actions. The creatures then morph their hosts into grotesque monsters with extraordinary strengths. Winged, clawed, fanged half-humans become living nightmares. Now Marci wishes she was crazy, because the truth is worse.

She’s infected.

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About Ingrid

Ingrid Seymour is the author of Ignite The Shadows (Harper Voyager, April 23rd, 2015). When she’s not writing books, she spends her time working as a software engineer, cooking exotic recipes, hanging out with her family and working out. She writes young adult and new adult fiction in a variety of genres, including Sci-Fi, urban fantasy, romance, paranormal and horror.

Her favorite outings involve a trip to the library or bookstore where she immediately gravitates toward the YA section. She’s an avid reader and fangirl of many amazing books. She is a dreamer and a fighter who believes perseverance and hard work can make dreams come true.

She lives in Birmingham, AL with her husband, two kids and a cat named Mimi.

Connect with Ingrid: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter