“Brew writing” definitely describes my writing process. I’d like to share how.
SAVIOR is the title of my story included in LitArt Hub’s anthology, SILVER LININGS: Stories of Love, Hope & Courage in a Pandemic Setting.⠀
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This is the first time I wrote a time travel story and as usual, I did a lot of research and reading. And yes, I also watched the movie 12 Monkeys. These really helped me a lot in building my plot. Time travel stories can be a bit tricky, alternating between past, present and future.⠀
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I wrote this story in three days! But before that, I let the plot “brew” in my mind for over a month. “Brewing” for me means thinking of an opening hook, imagining and sequencing the scenes, building the theme, and a visible grasp of an ending, among others.
Only when all the pieces fell snugly into place inside my brain did I let my fingers tap the keyboard and wrote all the ideas down. ⠀
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Of course, it still wasn’t perfect when I finished writing. It think it’s more like letting the “brew” “drip,” you know, like with a coffeemaker? You just let it all out, then you add sugar or cream or cinnamon to make it taste better.
There were words to change to make the dialogues and prose more striking. I also changed the names of the characters three times – or was it five times? (I always do that). Every other hour, I read my story all over again and find something to replace, to add, to delete.⠀
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But then, I’m sure writers of the same mind as me experience this: There comes a time when finally, finally everything comes together, and you step back, and know — truly know in your heart—that you’ve done it.
You’ve written a story you can be proud of.
SILVER LININGS: Stories of Love, Hope & Courage in a Pandemic Setting
EBOOK EDITION:
PAPERBACK EDITION (Philippine Buyers):
SILVER LININGS will be released on Amazon and other digital stores on July 4, 2020.⠀
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Get your preorder copy of SILVER LININGS Here.
We will have a Virtual Book Launch on July 3, 7:00 p.m. (Philippine time). Join us by registering for FREE here. Be one of the lucky Raffle winners of P500 GCash, ebooks, Spotify subscription, and bookish items!⠀
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We’re also accepting PRE ORDERS for a paperback edition of SILVER LININGS for Philippine buyers! Just fill up THIS FORM.
Paperback will be launched on Aug. 8, 2020 at 8Letters LitFest.
LitArtHub is created by me and my friend, Katie Velez. We publish quality flash fiction, poetry, and artworks on our website, in a quarterly digital magazine, as well as selected works from special calls for submission in ebook and print formats.
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