My Writing Process blog tour

The excellent Amanda Miska tagged me for the My Writing Process blog tour, so here are my answers!

What am I working on?

My main writing project right now is a novel I started in 2012. I'm hoping to complete the first draft of it during my upcoming residency at the Vermont Studio Center. It's about a 20-something woman who lives in a dead-end town and got married too young for less-than-great reasons. She has few opportunities and doesn't necessarily make the best use of the ones she does have. It's not as bleak as it sounds, althought some of it is pretty bleak. On the side, I'm also working on a short story that revolves around an abandoned supermarket.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My blog differs from many others in that I've never wanted to limit it to one narrow focus. It's not a sewing blog, or book blog, or whatever--it's a blog of whatever I feel like. Fiction-wise, I hope that I bring a variety of perspectives based on my experiences living in the south, the northeast, and the midwest; in funky urban neighborhoods and rural areas; in a small college town and a bland suburb.

Why do I write what I do?

On the blog, I like to write and photograph projects I've done and things that inspire me, because I think documenting creativity has value. If I share these types of things, maybe other people get inspired too. In fiction, it's harder to say. Right now I'm in a phase where I want to write about people whose lives are quite different from mine, to understand their perspectives and show what makes them interesting. There's something interesting about everybody, but too often we don't bother digging around to find what it is. Writing satisfies my urge to be nosier than might be acceptable in real life!

How does my writing process work?

Often, curiosity is what gets me started. Meeting someone with an unusual job--what's it like to do that work? Observations around town or on road trips can get my imagination going--what does that strange sign mean, or why is that building vacant? Things like that. I tend to jot down a lot of notes and brainstorm for a while with a pen and paper, and then start working on my laptop when I'm ready to develop the notes into something coherent. I enjoy writing by hand, but being able to cut, paste, and delete easily becomes vital at that stage.

Thanks, Amanda, for tagging me!