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One of the topics that always seems to generate a fair amount of interest here on the blog is "writing process" posts -- and specifically, how one goes about approaching the writing of a long work of fiction, which is of necessity a rather complicated process. I've talked about my process off and on over the years, but I thought it might be interesting to hear other voices give their take on their approach. Heck, I intend to learn something.
So here's the first in what may be a series...
I asked Joshua Palmatier,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jpsorrow here on LJ, to talk about his writing process. I had the opportunity to meet Joshua for the first time at Denvention, and had the pleasure of talking with him at some length at the DAW dinner there. He's an interesting fellow, and a terrific writer. If you're not familiar with his work, you should read them now. And if you'd like to get to know him even better, his website is here.
But you don't want to hear me talk -- this is Josh's forum, so let me hand over the blog to Joshua.
************************
First, thanks to Steve for the invite to guest blog here, and the chance to mention my books. Please go out and buy them! I'd like to be able to write more of them in the future. *grin*
He asked if I could say a few words about my writing process, whether I have one, etc. And in fact, I do! So I'll explain what it is that I do to get those words onto paper and polished up, and then I'll talk a little about what some of my friends do and make some comparisons.
But first the book promo. What, did you think I'd forgotten? I'm the author of three fantasy novels from DAW, all part of the Throne of Amenkor series. The books are (and the "series" thing becomes evident almost immediately): The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne. The third and final book in the trilogy was recently released in paperback, so all three are now available in both paperback and hardcover. All three books deal with a young girl named Varis, who's initially barely surviving in the slums of the city of Amenkor. She has an innate magical talent that she's been using to survive: she can see the world in shades of color--gray for harmless, and red for dangerous. She also has some minimal ability to manipulate and affect the world, as well as a warning system of imminent danger that manifests as a cold, white fire in her chest. All of these have allowed her to survive where others would have perished, but they haven't been put to much use.
But then Varis meets Erick, a Seeker or assassin sent by the city's ruler, the Mistress, to mete out the city's form of justice. Erick sees the potential inside of Varis and trains her to be an assassin as well, where her magical abilities flourish. In the end, Varis is hired to kill the Mistress, who sits upon the Skewed Throne--a magical artifact that has the souls of all of the past rulers stored inside it . . . so many souls that the throne itself has gone insane. In order to kill the Mistress, Varis must get past the Skewed Throne . . . and the throne knows she's coming.
Obviously there's more to the story than that, but if I go much farther I'll spoil some of what happens in The Skewed Throne, so I'll stop there. *grin* If you'd like to know more about the books, read an excerpt, etc, check out my webpage at www.joshuapalmatier.com.
And now, my process. How did I come about writing a novel, let alone an entire trilogy (with more books on the way)? Well, the hardest part, honestly, is getting my ass down in the chair and typing. That's the first step. But that's kind of an obvious step. After that . . . I write.
Which sound stupid, but that's pretty much how I do it. I'm what's called an "organic" writer in some circles (or a "pantser" or . . . well, many other terms). My process is to simply sit down and write. I don't write out any outlines ahead of time. I wouldn't write out a plot synopsis at all if it wasn't required for the business side of publishing. Basically, when I sit down to start a new novel, I have a few images in my head about what the book is about and where it's headed. These images are usually fairly intense (if they weren't, then there wouldn't be much drive to write them to find out what's going on, would there?) and highly detailed and full of drama. For example, the image that got me writing The Skewed Throne was of a young girl sitting on a boat in the harbor of Amenkor. A magical White Fire blazes out of the west, scorching across the land, touching everything and everyone in its path, reaching into the heavens and from horizon to horizon, so that no one could escape. I sweeps across Varis on her boat in the harbor . . . and that's where the image ended. I wanted to know what the White Fire was, how it affected Varis, what all of it meant to her, and how it changed her life. So I started writing to find out. I had a few other scenes from the end of the book, but that was it when I started.
And what happens is that the book starts writing itself after that. I sit down and I write toward the scene that inspired me. Sometimes that scene changes (for example, Varis never ends up on a boat in The Skewed Throne, but the White Fire is still there) or in the process of writing, that scene vanishes since it will no longer work, but that's how it starts. When I finish that scene, I look at where I'm headed and I ask myself how to get there. Numerous things happen along the way, but I keep the destination (however it changes) in mind as I write, and eventually I get there. New ideas and scenes, usually prompted by the characters and their actions, appear along the way of course, and they're incorporated into the grand vision. But for the most part, the books end up writing themselves. If they don't, then the book is failing or I'm missing something, and they have to be set aside until that something emerges . . . or they get abandoned.
So my process is "seat of the pants." I head out to see where the book goes. This is what works for me. I've tried writing outlines or plotting the novel ahead of time and it just doesn't work. I either feel that I've already written the book (so why spend hours reliving the same material over again) or the minute I start writing from the outline, the character does something that makes all the outlining obsolete. This is true even though part of the business is to sell books based on a plot synopsis. My editor understands that even if I provide a synopsis of the book, that might not be exactly what the final project turns out to be (although it's usually fairly close). If the book goes off on some wild tangent after I've sold a synopsis, then I call up my editor to see if she's OK with where the book has headed instead.
Now, as I said, this is MY process. There are many other writers out there with completely different processes, all perfectly valid. I recently attended a signing with a group of fellow writers and friends (we call ourselves the Gang of Four--me, Patricia Bray, S.C. Butler, and Barbara Campbell; you should check out their books as well) and one of the things we discussed at the signing was that we all have different processes. Patricia Bray has to plot out her novels and research them heavily before beginning. I barely do any research and don't outline at all. S.C. Butler is a pantser as well, but in a slightly different way: he allows his books and characters to ramble all over the place, exploring tangents and plot threads that never end up in the final version of the novel. My books tend to have everything tie together somehow in the end, so I rarely have threads that don't lead anywhere in the first draft. Barbara Campbell works with sort of a meld of outline and pantsing, with some extensive research ahead of time.
So everyone's process is different. You have to find what works best for you . . . and then write. In the end, it all comes down to getting your ass in the chair and writing.
So here's the first in what may be a series...
I asked Joshua Palmatier,
jpsorrow here on LJ, to talk about his writing process. I had the opportunity to meet Joshua for the first time at Denvention, and had the pleasure of talking with him at some length at the DAW dinner there. He's an interesting fellow, and a terrific writer. If you're not familiar with his work, you should read them now. And if you'd like to get to know him even better, his website is here.But you don't want to hear me talk -- this is Josh's forum, so let me hand over the blog to Joshua.
************************
First, thanks to Steve for the invite to guest blog here, and the chance to mention my books. Please go out and buy them! I'd like to be able to write more of them in the future. *grin*
He asked if I could say a few words about my writing process, whether I have one, etc. And in fact, I do! So I'll explain what it is that I do to get those words onto paper and polished up, and then I'll talk a little about what some of my friends do and make some comparisons.
But first the book promo. What, did you think I'd forgotten? I'm the author of three fantasy novels from DAW, all part of the Throne of Amenkor series. The books are (and the "series" thing becomes evident almost immediately): The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne. The third and final book in the trilogy was recently released in paperback, so all three are now available in both paperback and hardcover. All three books deal with a young girl named Varis, who's initially barely surviving in the slums of the city of Amenkor. She has an innate magical talent that she's been using to survive: she can see the world in shades of color--gray for harmless, and red for dangerous. She also has some minimal ability to manipulate and affect the world, as well as a warning system of imminent danger that manifests as a cold, white fire in her chest. All of these have allowed her to survive where others would have perished, but they haven't been put to much use.
But then Varis meets Erick, a Seeker or assassin sent by the city's ruler, the Mistress, to mete out the city's form of justice. Erick sees the potential inside of Varis and trains her to be an assassin as well, where her magical abilities flourish. In the end, Varis is hired to kill the Mistress, who sits upon the Skewed Throne--a magical artifact that has the souls of all of the past rulers stored inside it . . . so many souls that the throne itself has gone insane. In order to kill the Mistress, Varis must get past the Skewed Throne . . . and the throne knows she's coming.
Obviously there's more to the story than that, but if I go much farther I'll spoil some of what happens in The Skewed Throne, so I'll stop there. *grin* If you'd like to know more about the books, read an excerpt, etc, check out my webpage at www.joshuapalmatier.com.
And now, my process. How did I come about writing a novel, let alone an entire trilogy (with more books on the way)? Well, the hardest part, honestly, is getting my ass down in the chair and typing. That's the first step. But that's kind of an obvious step. After that . . . I write.
Which sound stupid, but that's pretty much how I do it. I'm what's called an "organic" writer in some circles (or a "pantser" or . . . well, many other terms). My process is to simply sit down and write. I don't write out any outlines ahead of time. I wouldn't write out a plot synopsis at all if it wasn't required for the business side of publishing. Basically, when I sit down to start a new novel, I have a few images in my head about what the book is about and where it's headed. These images are usually fairly intense (if they weren't, then there wouldn't be much drive to write them to find out what's going on, would there?) and highly detailed and full of drama. For example, the image that got me writing The Skewed Throne was of a young girl sitting on a boat in the harbor of Amenkor. A magical White Fire blazes out of the west, scorching across the land, touching everything and everyone in its path, reaching into the heavens and from horizon to horizon, so that no one could escape. I sweeps across Varis on her boat in the harbor . . . and that's where the image ended. I wanted to know what the White Fire was, how it affected Varis, what all of it meant to her, and how it changed her life. So I started writing to find out. I had a few other scenes from the end of the book, but that was it when I started.
And what happens is that the book starts writing itself after that. I sit down and I write toward the scene that inspired me. Sometimes that scene changes (for example, Varis never ends up on a boat in The Skewed Throne, but the White Fire is still there) or in the process of writing, that scene vanishes since it will no longer work, but that's how it starts. When I finish that scene, I look at where I'm headed and I ask myself how to get there. Numerous things happen along the way, but I keep the destination (however it changes) in mind as I write, and eventually I get there. New ideas and scenes, usually prompted by the characters and their actions, appear along the way of course, and they're incorporated into the grand vision. But for the most part, the books end up writing themselves. If they don't, then the book is failing or I'm missing something, and they have to be set aside until that something emerges . . . or they get abandoned.
So my process is "seat of the pants." I head out to see where the book goes. This is what works for me. I've tried writing outlines or plotting the novel ahead of time and it just doesn't work. I either feel that I've already written the book (so why spend hours reliving the same material over again) or the minute I start writing from the outline, the character does something that makes all the outlining obsolete. This is true even though part of the business is to sell books based on a plot synopsis. My editor understands that even if I provide a synopsis of the book, that might not be exactly what the final project turns out to be (although it's usually fairly close). If the book goes off on some wild tangent after I've sold a synopsis, then I call up my editor to see if she's OK with where the book has headed instead.
Now, as I said, this is MY process. There are many other writers out there with completely different processes, all perfectly valid. I recently attended a signing with a group of fellow writers and friends (we call ourselves the Gang of Four--me, Patricia Bray, S.C. Butler, and Barbara Campbell; you should check out their books as well) and one of the things we discussed at the signing was that we all have different processes. Patricia Bray has to plot out her novels and research them heavily before beginning. I barely do any research and don't outline at all. S.C. Butler is a pantser as well, but in a slightly different way: he allows his books and characters to ramble all over the place, exploring tangents and plot threads that never end up in the final version of the novel. My books tend to have everything tie together somehow in the end, so I rarely have threads that don't lead anywhere in the first draft. Barbara Campbell works with sort of a meld of outline and pantsing, with some extensive research ahead of time.
So everyone's process is different. You have to find what works best for you . . . and then write. In the end, it all comes down to getting your ass in the chair and writing.
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Also, for the possible plot notes, I like to cross them off the list when they either happen or it becomes obvious that they won't (or I decide it was a stupid idea after all *grin*). I suppose I could use strikeout in a file, but I'm more likely to delete it instead. And sometimes I have to go back to those crossed out notes to make something work later on.
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And I love the term pantser!