posted on October 13, 2015 by Jennifer Shirk

My 3 P’s of My Writing

by Jennifer Shirk

WeddingDateForHire_1600Hi, all! Jennifer here.

Every writer has their own routine. It not only gets your writing flowing in a rhythm but it also allows a writer to begin somewhere that is familiar to them. Today, I wanted to share mine. It’s how I start every book, so I NEVER EVER DEVIATE from it. EVER.

I call it the 3 P’s of My Writing.

Sound intriguing? Well, it’s not really. It’s just the way my mind works.

1) First and foremost is PLOT.

Yes, I actually love to plot. I think I love to plot more than actually write. LOL! Plotting is where everything about your story is new and shiny. Even your characters names! Putting down a bunch of ideas down on paper gets me excited to write about them. I pretty much follow the classic G-M-C (goal-motivation-conflict) rule for each main character.

2) Second is PICTURES.

I personally need to visually see my characters before I can write about them. So I scroll through the internet and make sure I find pictures that not only fit my characters’ names but also their personality, job, background, etc…

For my upcoming October 12th release, Wedding Date for Hire, I pictured actress Sarah Wright as “Maddie” and Jusin Clynes as “Trent

3) Third is PLAYLIST.

You bet I make a playlist before I write—or at least have a handful of songs that fit the theme and storyline.  As I write, I may think of other songs to add to it. Then when I’m finally ready to edit, I listen to the playlist as I go over the story. I find it helps me stay in the right frame of mind and also mood.

Some songs I have on my Wedding Date for Hire playlist are:

  1. “I Do, I Do, I Do…” by ABBA
  2. “Falling Slowly” by The Swell Season
  3. “Pretend” by Nat King Cole
  4. “Easy Money” by Johnny Marr
  5. Save the Last Dance” by Michael Buble

Fun, huh?

I hope you all get a chance to read Wedding Date for Hire and see if those characters and songs fit the story!

Happy reading!

~Jennifer

Wedding Date for Hire

Maddie McCarthy is single, between jobs, and (oh, the shame) lives with her mother. To make matters worse, she’s the maid of honor for her sister’s wedding, and desperately needs a date. Then she sees her salvation—Match Made Easy, a service for women in Maddie’s exact position. If she can’t find a boyfriend, she’ll do the next best thing…

Hire one.

Trent Montgomery isn’t actually part of Match Made Easy. He’s just doing a favor for his cousin, but one look at the blonde who hired him, and he’s totally hooked. Now Maddie thinks that the attraction sizzling between them is just “part of the package.” And Trent is running out of time to prove to her that her date-for-hire might just be her happily-ever-after…

Jennifer Shirk

Jennifer Shirk

USA TODAY bestselling author, Jennifer Shirk, has a bachelor degree in pharmacy-which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations. She writes sweet romances (some even funny!) and won third place in the RWA 2006 NYC's Kathryn Hayes Love and Laughter Contest with her first book, The Role of a Lifetime. Her novel Sunny Days for Sam won the 2013 Golden Quill Published Authors Contest for Best Traditional Romance. She's a board member for Straight Ahead Ministries, an organization involved in helping spread the gospel and aiding medical and pharmacy students in Russia. She's also a board member of the Ocean City Library Board of Trustees. She resides in a beach resort in NJ, and when she's not involved in all the above, she's taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter, guinea pig (Rocco), puppy (Sox) and four hermit crabs.

http://www.jennifershirk.com

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