My Writing Process

Last week David F. Chapman of Autocratik wrote a blog post about his writing process as part of a blog tour which has been going around. I’ve known David ever since we met in Abstract Sprocket waaay back in the 90’s so he tagged me in his post.

What Am I Working On?

Currently I’m not really working on much. I’m editing the final addition to the Knights of Elevar series, which will be a bonus piece for the final collection. That should be available on Amazon by the end of the month. Aside from that I have a draft titled Monkeys in Space which requires some editing along with its ideological sequel (currently unnamed) from last year’s Nanowrimo.

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Hmm, I’m not too sure! You may have to read some of it and let me know.

Why do I write what I do?

I enjoy reading or watching fantasy and science-fiction and have a long standing love for mythology and legends from all sorts of different cultures. This probably stems from things like Star Wars and reading about Robin Hood and King Arthur as a kid, along with a million and one role playing games.

With all of that to influence me it’s no wonder I write sci-fi and fantasy.

How does your writing process work?

I used to write freehand in a notebook then type up what I’d written into Libre Office’s Writer. This was good because it gave me a free editing step as I’d always try and improve what I’d written while converting paper to digital. At the time I also had a real problem with coming up with place / character names which would frequently derail my writing flow but I’ve since over come that.

For Nanowrimo 2012 I built my own writing software called Storytella which I now use for all my writing. It has a number of key features which are phenomenally useful (even if I do say myself!) such as a editable entities and conversion to EPUB format (vital for self publishing).

When I’m working on something I try and stick to a minimum of 500 words per day to keep the momentum flowing. If I have a break from writing something of more than a couple of weeks I’ll probably never finish, so the constant progress is vital to me. To keep track of my progress Storytella has daily and monthly word count graphs which are useful but I also follow the Jerry Seinfeld approach and have a year planner with dots where I’ve met my writing targets for the day. This is right above my desk so I can easily see how many days in a row I’ve managed to write.

When I finish a short story I’ll go straight into editing but for longer works I like to take a break from it before going back. It also helps clear the mind a bit and allows me to reread with a fresh set of eyes.