How NOT to write a book...

One of these days, if all goes as well, I'm going to have people ask me things like, "What was your process?" and they aren't going to like my answer. I've heard people answer this question before. Some will talk about assigning characters a color and color coating their dialogue. They will tell you how they fleshed out their story, brainstormed, or even show you how they outlined things. They'll talk about programs they used to catch mistakes. They'll give you cool tips like using FESHO (figure eyes skin hair and 'other') to help people remember to describe people... tips I found out 15 years too late from Jenna Moreci. (Aspiring writers should totally check out her youtube channel)

Some poor kid is going to be staring at me, wide-eyed, mentally prepared for me to drop knowledge and I'm going to spend the next few seconds looking like the live version of a loading screen. In my head, I'll be swiping left on a barrage of wrong things to say.

My honest answer would be a long list of bad habits. That I ever made it this far is a miracle. My original process was a series of misadventures and years of "maybe later." I would rather not explain a process that will make someone take twenty years to write a book.

Rather than literally answer this question, I hope I'll have the sense to pretend they said "Was there anything about your process that is remotely salvageable?"

I can think of a few things... maybe.