The Writing Process

Over the past few months, a series of blogs have been posted by writers describing their writing processes. I think there are probably as many approaches as there are writers. But Emma Lee asked me to answer some questions about mine, and so I’ve taken some time out of my duties here in Cambodia to take a step back and look at what it is I do.
1) What am I working on? I have just finished and launched the second novel in my Cambodian series, called Out of the Ruins. This one is set in Siem Reap, the city of the temples, and follows Westerners establishing s women’s health clinic, while taking a hard look at the sex trade. So it’s now time to start thinking about what to write next.  I had originally thought I would write one more novel set in Cambodia, making this a trilogy. I had even started mapping it out. But my readers seem to really like what I’m doing with these Cambodian novels, the characters I’m creating and the stories I’m telling, so I think I should continue the series a bit longer. I already have another idea in mind with some overlapping characters from the first two novels, but also some new ones. And this one might tackle the tricky business of today’s politics over here. I say here, because I’m writing this from the educational shelter in Siem Reap called Anjali House, where I come to teach each year for about 2 months.  So, watch this space……
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? It’s hard to say what this genre is.  It is part travelogue, part suspense, definitely literary fiction, but firmly relying on place to be a character as much as the people are. I aim to bring today’s reality of a real place to a Western world which has mainly forgotten about it, but doing it via fiction. Although there is much excellent historical fiction written about Cambodia in English, there is almost no literary fiction written about it that focuses on Cambodia today. It is a void I am trying to fill.
3) Why do I write what I do? Who knows? This is all probably more of a surprise to me than to anyone else. My family and I came to Cambodia for the first time 7 years ago, and I fell in love. Now, its people fill my head with stories and I have a growing love and commitment to this place which is full of sadness and beauty in equal measures.
4) How does your writing process work? I very much need to build a structure and boundaries around myself so that I can safely boumce off those structures.  So I do a lot of “pre-writing” work before I actually start writing. I write out my characters’ back stories. I figure out the structure – how many chapters? What is the pacing? And most importantly, I decide on the voice and point of view. Whose story is this and who is telling it? That one is always tricky but it is made more so because the 1^st person narrator of the first Cambodian novel, A Clash of Innocents, became a huge personality and readers have insisted that she continue to be a strong part of the next novels, even if the next stories aren’t about her or taking place in the city where she lives. A technical challenge for me, but I’m thrilled that I have readers who care. Heck, I’m thrilled just to have readers.
————–
So that’s it from me. Now, if anyone else would like to tell their stories, please leave a comment. Although this blog series is coming to a close, there’s still room for a few more!