My general (and preferred) writing process is not customary. It occurs when I experience something that touches me and Spirit commands me to record. I can neither predict the experience nor when I will write. When it occurs, I HAVE to (and WANT to) write it down as soon as I can. And I will work on it -- skipping meals and sleep -- until it is basically finished. (A period of editing/perfecting it as much as I can follows.)
This mysterious command to write started in childhood but gained steam in adulthood.
When I was near retirement, I realized that my edited and approved pile of horse tales was high enough to compile into my first book. Two members of my writers' group accepted them for publication. That experience, and holding the published version in my hands, were thrilling. But my book did not sell and I had so much more to learn.
Apparently, the selling process is supposed to begin BEFORE the writing process, and I had skipped right over some crucial steps such as identifying my audience and what my book was going to offer my readers. It took me a lot of time and energy to figure out why God may have called me to write my book.
