Have you ever wondered how authors plan their work? Do they plan at all? How do they do it?

First things first, I can only speak for myself so I’d like to share my own experience. I’m sure it’s not unique but I need to talk about something this month so you get to know what I’ve been working on… and that is planning a series… or three…

Let’s start with the beginning:

I didn’t think Made In Portugal was going to happen. Not really. I started writing without a plan, structure or knowing anything about writing a novel. When I say nothing, I mean NOTHING. 

Made In New York was born out of a desire to be part of the Rainbow Advent Calendar and also to get my name out there before Portugal came out… except I only had time to give the MCs a HFN… You know what comes next, right? 

Christmas comes around again and Paris gets a story, then the New York MCs get their HEA (yeah, they waited a year), and then more recently the one character that was mentioned in all the books came out and had his HEA too.

I only ever thought one book ahead. Talk about winging it!

At the end of July I attended an author’s conference in Edinburgh. It was the best event I could have attended if I was ever going to take my writing career seriously. 

Okay, I met up with lots of MM authors so driving 8 hours up the country to Scotland was well worth it for that, but I also had a chance to learn a lot.

I’d already been thinking about what to write next but this conference was the beginning of a bigger change for me. It was the first time I thought about me, my brand, what I write about, what I am good at, and most importantly, what I enjoy writing about. 

Trivia question:
Do you know how many books two authors can plan while on two eight-hour car journeys?
Answer at the end of the post.

I thought long and hard (no pun intended) about what to write next. I made a list about the things I like to write about and then created a little mood board to give me a visual representation of those things.

It’s funny how I never set out to write this (see the unplanned bit above) but as soon as I thought about it, and saw it represented in the board, it was very clear to me. 

Then came the next steps… who am I going to write about and where will they live?

I bet you’re waiting for me tell you that I picked one of the million plot bunnies I have in my notepad, planned a book, and then the next one and then the next one until I had a series planned.

Yeah… no…

I have a book that I’d already written but didn’t want to use for the purpose it was intended. Why? Because those pesky side characters (see the family thing above?), yeah they wanted their own story. Then there were the other characters, and then I remembered a plot bunny (Slade Roberson this one’s for you!). Let’s not even mention that I’m writing a short story to introduce the series and there are other characters fighting for attention already.

And you know what’s even better? Is that as I write and plan the stories and get to know the characters, I am also getting to know the town they live in. Google Maps has a lot to answer for but so does my imagination. 

As you can see, even when I try to plan things don’t quite work out in that way. It’s like getting in the car with my stories and characters. They’re the ones driving and the only reason I’m in the car is because without me they’ll have no way of paying for fuel, or money for snacks. Now, if only I could use that to my advantage!

So, long story short, my head is a mess of ideas but somehow it all comes deliciously together like homemade cake (see? Food, I told you!)

Answer to trivia question: twelve books. That’s how many books were planned and loosely plotted during sixteen hours in a car. And no, there were no fights, or arguments. Hands down the best time I’ve had while driving! 

If you’re curious about this new series, the short I’m writing will be free in September as part of a Prolific Works promo with lots of other authors. You will also be able to sign up to my new newsletter then. If you think you might forget about it (I mean, it’s nine days away, and I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast), why not join my facebook group, Café Lima so you get the reminder.

In the mean time, if you haven’t ready any of my books you can find them here.

Till next month… cheerio… or how we say in Portugal, tchau! 

Ana