Natasha
asked
Xavier Neal:
Hi! Hope you're keeping sane, healthy and happy in these crazy times. I've recently discovered your books (they've made me cry/laugh out loud) and have been so happy to see diversity in my favorite genre-romance! Thank you for sharing your gift with us. My question is-what is your writing process and how do you keep the dialogue flowing and so entertaining?besides the fact that you must be absolutely hilarious IRL :)
Xavier Neal
Hey!!! Thanks for reaching out! (I love when this happens! <3) First off let me say, thank you for your kind words. Seriously. They make me smile and just add fuel to keep going.
As for my writing process, oh that's a mess lol. There's always an outline (that may or may not be worth anything by the end of the book) and a series of tantrums in which I am not writing fast enough for myself or am too distracted to sit still, that all lead to the inevitable random few days of shelling out 7k or 8k words in a session to complete a story. I let my characters do the talking (anytime I try to go against it, it feels wrong and/or they stop talking and I'm left flailing). Whoever talks the loudest, gets their story told, and this method works for me.
Dialogue is my fave thing. I LOVE to listen to people talk in real life, from my table at a restaurant to being at a party to that on TV shows/movies, and I love to spark up conversations with random strangers, anywhere (airport bathroom after coming from the same concert unknowingly was funny). While I like to think I'm funny in real life, it's more so those around me. My hubs is hilarious and my mom is too and my best friends have some good ones that get me. I spend a lot of time in life (now and since I was a very small kid) just soaking things in, writing down things about people and places and anytime I am sparked by something that interesting to me (name, job, location, hobby) I jot it down and wait to wrap it up and reflect it in my writing worlds.
I hope that answered your question and that I didn't ramble too much haha.
As for my writing process, oh that's a mess lol. There's always an outline (that may or may not be worth anything by the end of the book) and a series of tantrums in which I am not writing fast enough for myself or am too distracted to sit still, that all lead to the inevitable random few days of shelling out 7k or 8k words in a session to complete a story. I let my characters do the talking (anytime I try to go against it, it feels wrong and/or they stop talking and I'm left flailing). Whoever talks the loudest, gets their story told, and this method works for me.
Dialogue is my fave thing. I LOVE to listen to people talk in real life, from my table at a restaurant to being at a party to that on TV shows/movies, and I love to spark up conversations with random strangers, anywhere (airport bathroom after coming from the same concert unknowingly was funny). While I like to think I'm funny in real life, it's more so those around me. My hubs is hilarious and my mom is too and my best friends have some good ones that get me. I spend a lot of time in life (now and since I was a very small kid) just soaking things in, writing down things about people and places and anytime I am sparked by something that interesting to me (name, job, location, hobby) I jot it down and wait to wrap it up and reflect it in my writing worlds.
I hope that answered your question and that I didn't ramble too much haha.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more