Tell Me Your Ways...with Annie McQuaid

Debut novelist and reformed pantser talks about her writing process.

Annie McQuaid writes contemporary romance with a side of adventure and is repped by Cathie Hedrick Armstrong at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. My friend Olivia Jackson told me I had to track her down and talk to her about her upcoming book and writing process and I’m so glad I did. Annie’s love of revising is contagious. Read on to hear all about her process.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Why do you find this the best way for you to write?

I am a reformed pantser, or at least I’m trying to be. I’ve learned the hard way that while pantsing can be fun, I always have to come back to creating an outline of some sort and rewriting huge pieces of a story after drafting. Now that I’ve gone through the process of writing a book as a pantser, I’m working to give myself a clear roadmap to follow that still allows my characters to change directions or for something new to jump onto the page. 

What does your drafting process look like? Do you write scenes in order?

In one word, chaotic! I write scenes as they come to me, which is never in order. My best writing comes through when I can see the entire scene in my head, and I’m just capturing it on paper, rather than forcing my characters to behave a certain way. I usually have a vision for what the big moments of a book look like that led to the spark of the story in the first place (the meet-cute, the first kiss, a big fight, and the ending), but everything else comes to me in waves. When I’m working on a first draft, I let myself collect scenes out of order as I get to know the characters and uncover new plot ideas, but my goal is to quickly arrange them in order, match them up to an outline, and then fill in the gaps. 

Please walk us through a little of what your revision process looks like?

I LOVE revising! This is where the magic happens of taking a disorganized mess of words and forming it into a story, then sprinkling in all the pretty prose. I generally start by creating a reverse outline, which looks like a spreadsheet of every scene I’ve written so I can see it all in one place. From there, I’ll map out story beats, make notes on places I want to change, and color code things like internal or external plot and if the scene is moving the romance forward. I’ll also take the advice of my trusted critique partner and incorporate any of her suggested changes into my next round of edits at this point. Then I rinse and repeat!  

How do you know when your story is done?

This is a question that keeps me up at night. Every time I’ve read through CRASH LANDING, I’ve found new things that I want to tweak, even though I’m confident it’s in great shape after many rounds of edits. I don’t know if a story is ever truly done, but at some point, you have to make a decision to let it go, and it becomes the readers’ instead of yours. 

How many beta readers do you typically have for a project? Does anyone read all the versions?

For CRASH LANDING, I didn’t show anyone until I had a fully formed draft, which I then shared with my critique partner and my mentors in the KissPitch Mentorship program. I don’t think anyone has read every version, but I’ve had many eyes on different stages of it at this point. Now that I’ve made many wonderful connections in the writing community, I have a group of beta readers (3-4) that I’ll share my next story with alongside working with my CP. 

What are you currently working on now?

I am working on Book 2, which will be another adventure romance! I’m really excited about diving into a new story. I’m in early drafting right now, but it is The Amazing Race (TV show) meets Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center, set in the mountains of North Carolina.

Do you have a favorite book on the craft of writing?

For inspiration, I read Stephen King's On Writing, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. I also turn to Save the Cat and Romancing the Beat for plotting advice and generally use these two books when outlining and revising.

Anything else you’d like to share? 

If you are an aspiring author, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, just focus on your craft and the story in front of you. Publishing is a wild and weird journey and doesn’t look the same for everyone. If you write, you are a writer no matter what path your book or career takes!

Where can we find you?

I’m most active on Instagram (Annie_m_writes), but you can also find me on X (anniewithane). You can also subscribe to my Substack for all the latest news on CRASH LANDING, including signed preorder info.