Think of those three big process types as your soup base. You've got your bone broth, your meat and veggies, maybe some barley... I'm so hungry now.

Anyway, good soup needs spices, and every person has unique tastes, so here are a few other methods that you can use concurrently with the three main branches. I've come across them in my travels of the interwebs, and they could be helpful to you!

The Shake-Up

LeViNeFrEaK talked to me about how she writes her stories completely out of order. As a mom of a toddler, she doesn't get any big blocks of good writing time. This is her process: "[...] a shitload of brainstorming and writing bits and blobs on my notepad whenever a idea pops up." I find this incredibly relatable... my kid is a lot more chill now, but there was a time in my life where I was half asleep rocking the bassinet typing frantically on my phone at 3am. It's doable.

What I find so interesting about LeViNeFrEaK's process is that she said that she always writes out of order, whatever scenes or dialogue she happens to have pop up in her head throughout the day. She uses the Hybrid process, as she's got a rough outline of what she wants to happen in a story but then writes random scenes until she has enough to piece them all together: "Seeing all my little puzzle pieces for together, ending up in a binge frenzy lasting till two am when I have to force myself to actually go to sleep."

This method can be a double-edged sword. Some that lean towards a more Pantsing technique might find that writing all of the exciting bits first might not spur them into writing all of the rest of the stuff in between. But for those that are comfortable with their Organizational ways might find this a good way to get that blasted first bit onto the page. If you start with something that excites you, and then are able to continue to jump around in the plot properly and seamlessly with your outline, then gravy!

Thanks to LeViNeFrEaK for letting me rapid fire her questions about her methods! Head on over to her profile for a treasure trove of musical-themed stories!

The Seven Alternatives Practice

This is an interesting method that AndrewDWallin pulled out during our conversation. He said what he likes to do is when he comes up with a plot point, he'll imagine seven different outcomes. Even if he has an idea for which way he wants it to go, imagining seven different ones either strengthens his main idea, or gives him a twist in which he can actually modify the plot to make it even better.

This honestly could be applied to a lot of things in your process. Trying to think of what job best fits a character within the plot? Think of seven, then weigh the pros and cons of each. Imagining how your character would act in each of those jobs will just strengthen your knowledge of their personality and work ethics.

If you hit the climax of your book and you don't know where to go with it, write out seven different options. Then imagine what each of those options would lead to. Whichever one you feel is the best ending from the climax is the one you could go with. And if it doesn't end up working out, well then you still have six more to choose from!

It doesn't have to be seven, either. They key is brainstorming more than one outcome to things. That way you're looking at it from a logical perspective, weighing out what is possible within the world of your story, and even if you think something is really kooky and out-there, maybe it will spark the courage to do something a little off the beaten path. Taking risks in your story can be so rewarding.

Thanks to AndrewDWallin for taking the time to talk out so much of his process with me! Have a gander at his profile and check out his book Trespasser!

Character Interviews

I was recently asked by alwaysoldenough to do an interview for her book Neverland Reviews. She also asked if Persephone could do a review as well, and that was some of the most fun I've had writing the character! If you haven't read Persephone, Seph is basically a hedonist diva that does whatever she wants. So I got to slip into her character and answer a bunch of questions. They were so raunchy that Neverland Reviews earned a Mature rating. XD (Sorrynotsorry)

In the process of answering all of those questions, though, something magical happened. I really got to learn more about the character than I ever thought I would. It was different than just writing her story, even if it is in first-person POV. I had to answer questions as I thought she would, and some of the things that came out of her mouth surprised even me.

It was a really cool way to explore her character, and so I went and did some research on character interviews and found out that a lot of people use it as a tool to build their characters. Either before or during writing a story, they'll pick a set of questions and then answer them in-character to learn more about their motivations and voice. This is such an amazing idea, and would be a great asset to any process.

If you're having a hard time connecting with your characters, or need a boost in development, definitely give this a try! The questions can be generic, like where they come from or what's a story from their childhood. Or they you could get specific, as if you're playing a game of truth or dare, and see how they respond. It's an interesting exercise, and there's no such thing as being too close to your characters. It will only strengthen your story in the long run.

Act Structures

Researching varying act structures can be a great way to help streamline your plot. If you're finding that you're not sure about how to lead up to a climax, or you have a few scenes and events in your head but you're not sure how to link them together, then maybe a structure outline could help.

katkeenan said she likes K.M. Weiland's three-act structure, saying: "For every story I try to come up with ideas for my inciting incident, plot points, pinch points and climax." It's a great way to lay out even a loose outline so that you know where your main storyline is going to end up.

Here's a visual one of a basic three-act structure, which is set up like a rollercoaster (fitting, right?) and shows the rise and fall of the action. This one is from Reedsy, and shows a basic structure that's helpful for driving a story plot.

Image from Reedsy

There are many variations out there, and you could do some poking around to see what could work for your story. Alternatively, if you're looking for inspiration, maybe checking out some of these structures could inspire you to start something new! The Fichtean Curve is a really interesting one, really great for action or drama because it's just crisis after crisis leading to a big climax.

Mind-Mapping

Mind-mapping can be an extremely effective brainstorming tool. katkeenan says she uses mind-mapping software: "[...]to brainstorm ideas for everything from world building to scene ideas and all my "what if's." It gets messy, but I already start to see how certain ideas can connect together to create subplots that effect the main plot or tie into the character arcs."

Getting messy is the best way to get ideas out! And whether you're using software or paper, it can be an amazing visual aid to jogging free inspiration from that noggin'.

Image from the Peak Performance Center

This practice could easily go hand-in-hand with the Seven Alternatives Practice, because you could do your alternatives to big plot points visually and look at it all together. Maybe it spawns more branches, and you're off to the races!

The only problem I can foresee here is that you'll end up with too many ideas. Which is the best problem a writer could have.

Thanks to katkeenan for sharing her methods with me! Head on over to her profile and check out her book, Never Go Home!

Any interesting processes that you use that aren't listed here? Hit me up in PM and I'd love to chat with you about it!