S5 E78 Jasmine Guillory: The Art of the Messy First Draft
Summary
Jasmine Guillory discusses her creative journey, explaining how she transitioned from a career in law to writing romance novels. She details her outlining process, including her habit of handwriting first drafts to reduce pressure and using spreadsheets to track revisions. Guillory also shares insights on maintaining consistency, overcoming writer’s block, and the importance of finishing messy first drafts to discover character depth.
Topics discussed
Introduction and guest welcome
Guest introduction and praise for her work
Current location and balancing promotion with writing
Managing multiple projects and carving out writing time
Early reading habits and lack of creative outlet
Starting to write for fun and landing first agent
Outlining process and background as a lawyer
Why lawyers make good writers and discipline
Origin stories for The Proposal and The Wedding Date
Detailed outlining and starting the drafting process
Handwriting the first draft of While We Were Dating
Writing linearly and handling out-of-order scenes
The non-linear nature of writing and daily word counts
Overdrafting and messy first drafts
Using a spreadsheet to track chapters and revisions
The importance of finishing a first draft
Managing ideas and knowing when a concept is right
Dealing with writer's block and keeping the creative door open
The one good hour rule and morning writing habits
Using timers and short writing sessions to overcome resistance
Working on dialogue and internal character thoughts
Dreading certain scenes and discovering character backstory
Trusting the subconscious and the creative process
Rewriting memory and the role of external support
Inspirations and influences on her writing
Portraying teenagers and drawing from personal experience
Lightning round: joy and pets
Lightning round: strangest items in the house
Lightning round: celebrating good news
Final question: which book would survive a century
Closing remarks and book release announcement
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