When I begin thinking of a new book, there are 3 things I do to begin the process of putting it down on paper.

1. Character Names: Names are important and meaningful so they are not something I take lightly when generating characters. The name has to embody this person and have an impact on the audience. Several examples of this are Albus Dumbledor, Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Dean Winchester, Aragorn, and Sherlock Holmes. Each of these names has a powerful impact whether it is simply the sound of the name or the meaning behind it. I have spent numerous hours perusing naming books, websites, and name generators to hunt for the perfect names of my characters. The meanings of names are fun to read about in the same way as astrology, numerology, and various personality quizzes are fun. I also find that titles can be useful in creating an image of the character without description. I’m not speaking of “Mr.” or “Miss” titles, but more of legendary titles. Gandolf the White is very different from Gandolf the Grey Pilgrim and the reader can envision that simply through the title. I’m a big fan of anime & manga so I’ll also reference Himura Kenshin because he garnered the title: Battousai the Manslayer, a fearsome and burdensome title that he worked to shed throughout the series.
2. Setting: My books have always been Fantasy and therefore I’m imagining everything from the ground up. I look at photographs of real places that I want to travel to, illustrated anime-inspired artwork on the website Pixiv (username & password required), or play video games to aid jotting down the world. Fun Fact: The city of Rhea in my book, was inspired by the song, “The Future is Now” by The Offspring.
3. Outline of Events: This is where I fell short when I was writing in middle school & high school. I have a small graveyard of stories that I started…and never finished. This is because I was a shiny new writer and aligned more with FanFiction than crafting my own work, but also because I did not create an outline. Without it I get lost in the middle, lose inspiration, and run into writer’s block. The beginning of a book is always clear to me; how to sweep up an audience with my characters, whom I have put such care into naming and crafting. But after that is where the real work comes in. I declare that I am most comfortable as a Planner/Plotter. However, my most recent book for National Novel Writing Month last year was done Planster (A mix between a Plotter and a Pantser) because I hadn’t quite decided what to do for the event until November was under way. I have to say it was not very enjoyable experience for me despite accomplishing the 50K word goal ^^;

To reiterate, this is my own personal process. Every writer is different. I’d love to hear what you think! Whether it’s a comment about your own writing process or a question about mine, feel free to leave it below.