Even though I've written four full books (two suck, so let them be stricken from everyone's memory from now on. One needs major surgery, the other one is Forgotten Marriage), I am still learning my process. What do I mean, "process"?

Process is: the way you write, the way you form a book. And the way your brain lets you do both. For my first novel - Forgotten Marriage - I was stabbing in the dark. I just wrote with no plan, which is often the best way to get the juices flowing. Sure, I had the overall theme - amnesia, lovers reunited, secret baby - but I spent eons editing the bloody thing, making the scenes flow into logical order, going back over their goals, motivation, conflict. And even when it sold, it still needed some work. Surely there was an easier way to write?

My second book is a bit of a freak - I sold it on synopsis. If you don't know, that is A RARE THING INDEED. But I had some help in that it's part of a six-part continuity, and I brainstormed with Desire divas Jan Colley, Maxine Sullivan, Tessa Radley, Bron Jameson and Yvonne Lindsay. The senior editor obviously thought I could do it. The synopsis showed I knew my story. But the thing is... I had only six months to write the thing (which shrunk to only six weeks but it's not like I'm counting...) Holy crap! Coming from someone who took over six years from concept to contract, deadlines are a scary thing.

Here's what I quickly figured out worked for this book. As Fiona Lowe says, your process can and will change for every book.   The real-time story (forget backstory for a moment) takes place over a month. May 2008. I had my hooks - office romance, marriage of convenience - and their GMC before I started. Now, I don't know about you, but for me, those 15 page character charts are great if you want to avoid writing. I've got a paired down version that doesn't waste space on questions like, 'favorite ice cream'.  I have specialised character sheets, which deal with goals, motivation, conflict, prime motivation, inner fears, etc. All stuff that aids your characterisation so that when you come to writing your characters, you can really get inside their heads.

So, anyway, back to my process. I printed out a month calendar with little squares. Put in pertinent dates such as Mothers Day (very important because the hero's mother has just died) and Fashion Week (again important because it's a glitzy story set inside a diamond company). Then I filled in the days with physical actions: first meeting, first kiss, love scene, a ball, visits a character, etc. I then filled in my h/h interaction with other characters (a must because of the continuity thing), what continuity threads I needed to address. Only then did I start putting in my scenes. Stuff like "hero discovers X about heroine, which leads him to believe Y". or "heroine confronts Mr Z, hero overhears conversation and steps in." This was perfect for showing me what doesn't flow properly, what scenes needed to be shifted and what needed to go. For example, I had a confrontational scene later on in the month that didn't make sense, because my heroine wouldn't have tolerated it or reacted the way she did. So I moved it a week forward and hey presto, it worked.

So then I opened Word, and using the wonderful Document Map, I started to type in my scenes. I refuse to write under chapter headings because the chapter breaks always change. So my 'chapters' are now the scenes. For example, "First Kiss", or Heroine confronts hero" at the top of the page. So when I click on that heading on the left hand screen, I can zoom straight to that place in the story. And an extra bonus, I get to see all those scenes listed in logical order. It quickly shows me if something's out of place (for more on Document Map, see my article here.)

So that's my process. GMC charts, calendar planning, Document Map in Word. Now I must get back to writing the book!