I'm gearing up for my tutorials with my brilliant @writementor class and a few have asked me about my writing process. It's taken me about 7 novels to refine anything that looks like a process, but if it's helpful, here it is:

I'm a planner. I don't understand how you can't be. Setting out on a novel without a plan seems to me like getting in a car to an unknown destination without a map. I can take detours and scenic routes, but at least I've got a sense of the general direction.

One of my most radical discoveries was ditching notebooks. They are a terrible way to order my thoughts and I'm constantly losing them. I now use good old A4 paper, bound with treasury tags. This means I can organise my notes and easily find the relevant bits later.

Once I've worked up my initial character, plot and dialogue ideas (LOTS of spider diagrams, I find them invaluable), I work the story up into plot beats - just a numbered list of what happens to check I have a beginning, middle and end. Not much detail, just points.

Once I have enough plot points, I start to write a long-form synopsis. This is so helpful as it quickly shows where there is too much or too little plot, or where it is bunched up.

It also generates loads of ideas - just writing my idea out as one, long prose document starts to get the novel in my fingers and the voices in my head. As above, it also quickly reveals big plot holes, which saves loads of time later.

Once that works, I break it down into a chapter breakdown, with a synopsis for each chapter and any notes I need to be aware of. This is my route map and again, shows up at the planning stage where more thought/work is needed. If I shortcut this bit, I ALWAYS regret it!

Now I'm ready for first draft. I organise all the chapters in Scrivener (I love the Scriv) so I have a skeleton - I just find this a real psychological boost and stops the empty page syndrome. I have my scaffolding - now to build the building.

First drafts, I never look back. I keep on ploughing forward no matter how much bobbins I am writing. Another reason to love Scriv is that I can easily leave notes for myself in the edit, but I never fall into the trap of editing as I go along - for me, that way madness lies.

I set myself a target - usually in chapters rather than word count - so I can see this thing growing every day. I aim for between 2500 - 5000+ every writing day, usually in two sittings. Because of the planning, I tend to find I can write fast, if not always well!

Once that's done (time for a drink), ideally I'll leave it to go cold. This usually helps a) see the errors and b) realise it's not nearly as bad as I thought it was. Time allowing, I'll go and work on a different project for a bit so I forget it. This is my Andrex draft.

Then it's time for the first edit. This is probably the toughest part of the process and needs the most heavy lifting. Structure, character, plot all face the chop unless they are earning their keep. This is where the darlings come to die.

At the end of the first edit (which will require more than one pass through the MS), I have what I call my Under The Bus draft. This means that if I fall under a bus, there's enough here for another writer to finish it and earn my children some inheritance.

Then it's time for my favourite bit - going through and tinkering with the dialogue and details. If the first drafts are building the house, this is where you get to choose the fabrics - several coats of spit and polish are applied until it resembles something I'm happy with.

Then I send it to my publisher... and hope and pray that it comes back okay. Rewind and repeat with each edit until the book is done. Time for another drink.

Every writer has their own way of doing it, but this is the one that works best for me. It's a little arduous in parts, but that early planning always pays off - the books that have had the easiest edits had the most upfront work. Good luck, my friends - go forth and Andrex! xxx