Chaos, caffeine, and character arcs.
People always ask what our writing process looks like.
Do we plot?
Do we pants?
Do we stare at the blinking cursor and cry?
Yes. To all of it.
Writing, for both of us, is equal parts ritual and rebellion. It’s messy. It’s unpredictable. It’s a whole vibe.
For Lisa:
Writing comes in bursts and spurts. Some stories, essays, or posts explode out in one sitting. Others drag themselves across the finish line after a long, stubborn battle with edits (see every full-length novel she has ever tried to put out for examples of this last one). There are sprints fueled by playlists, hyperfocus, and pure stubborn will.
For Rhonda:
She has to finish a draft in one sitting—or it may never see the light of day again. Once the words are down, the stew begins: letting it sit, simmer, and get torn apart through meticulous editing. Occasionally, a lifeline or two gets roped in for feedback before it’s reviewed yet again and finally tossed into the wild.
Sometimes we swap scenes. Sometimes we just scream about structure.
But always—the magic happens in the mess.
Here’s a rough breakdown of how we (sort of) get things done:
Brainstorming: Usually starts with a “what if?” and spirals into plot bunnies in leather jackets.
Planning: Lisa lives by bullet journals and checkboxes. Rhonda catalogs stories in her brain with terrifying precision—and backs them up in dedicated notebooks.
Drafting: Music on, distractions off (unless snacks are involved). Bonus points if there’s a true crime podcast playing in the background.
Editing: Equal parts ruthless and chaotic. The delete key is not a tool—it’s a frenemy.
Final Touches: Formatting, cover decisions, impostor syndrome, and—eventually—publish.
We’ve got different styles, but the mission is the same:
Get the story out.
Raw. Honest. And sometimes weird as hell.
So what’s your process like? Are you a plotter, a pantser, or a chaos creature like us? Please drop a comment and let us know.
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