The order of work

Every author works in their own individual way. If you want to know how I first start to tackle a book, it's like this

1/ a theme

2/ the characters

3/ the plot and the structure

4/ the tone, the point of view and the voice

And at any time at all when I am considering and planning each of the above I will be trying to decide what the running motifs will be. What on earth am I on about? What I mean is an idea or subject that crops up throughout the book, so, for example, one of the running motifs in Zuzu's Petals is colour. Did you notice it?

I have outlined my main characters for the next book, though there is heaps of detail to add to them. This morning I am trying to nail the basic plot.

p.s. no, no, daisies have nothing to do with any of the running motifs in ZP, or anything else in this post, but this is my blog, and if I want to post my photographs here, I shall!