Blog Tour & Author Guest Post: All the Broken Pieces by Cindi Madsen

So happy to be here at the Bookshelf Sophisticate to talk about my new release All the Broken Pieces. I’m going to talk a little bit about my writing process. I’m crazy about music, so before I start a writing project I make a playlist. Along the way I add songs as I find out new things about my characters or scenes go in different directions than I expected. In this book, I wanted to have two broken characters find each other and together become not-so-broken, so I found that a lot of
songs with the word “broken” in them. “Broken Pieces” by Apocalyptica and Lacey from Flyleaf really fit and “Broken” by Seether & Amy Lee has always been one of my favorites and talks about stealing the other person’s pain away. Sigh. Such an amazing song. And for kissing, the lyrics to Angels & Airwaves “Breathe” fit everything I wanted to convey. I could go on and on about music all day, but I’ll keep it short. If you’d like to know more about my playlist for All the Broken Pieces, you can find it here:

http://cindimadsen.com/Music.html

So once I have the music, I pull up a blank Word doc (even though I’m convinced Word is of the devil & its freeze-ups have caused me serious heart palpitations). I’m what they call a panster, so instead of plotting everything out, I get an idea and a sense of the characters and
just start writing. My first draft is what I call the spine. It’s got all the main parts and there are some new unexpected turns I didn’t know were going to end up in there, and I usually figure out somewhere along the way how it’s going to end. On the second draft, I go in and layer in clues, emotions, and add depth to the characters—sort of flesh it all out. The second draft is usually the most fun for me because I like seeing the story take shape and it’s enough of a story that it’s fun to read. Then I do one more read through, which is all the tiny emotions and thoughts and making sure the punctuation is correct and all that. I look at so critically that it’s less fun and I’m half-convinced it all sucks. If I have time, I like to take a break between drafts two and three.  All the Broken Pieces went through several changes and drafts even after that as I looked for the
right agent or editor, and I’ve found how important it is to work with someone who really gets and loves your story. And of course, through it all, I’ve got my playlist to help keep me on track, along with my Mountain Dew, Peanut M&Ms and sour gummi worms. Sugar can help power through most anything! So there’s a little bit about how I write and how All the Broken Pieces took shape.

So now I’m wondering if you’ve got any process when it comes to reading a book. Do you like music playing? Need a certain treat? A spot you like to settle in? I’m a on the couch with a blanket, Twizzlers, and Mountain Dew girl, myself. Add a good book and it’s pretty much perfection.

A HUGE thank you to Cindi for stopping by and sharing that post with us, and if you haven't added All the Broken Pieces to your TBR list, I suggest you put it at the top of you list and dive right in!