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Yet another in the "Capturing The Elusive Novel" series, which has previously featured Jim Palmatier, David B. Coe, and Tanya Huff. Our current victim, umm, that is, 'featured author' is Jim Hines (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jimhines), the creator of Jig the Goblin and the Stepsisters. Jim is a fine novelist, and someone with a deft and very funny sense of humor. On top of that, he's a lot of fun in person as well. I was pleased to be able to spend some time with him recently at Millennicon and get to know him better. And besides, he has a fantastic con jacket... If you haven't yet read his books, then you owe it to yourself to go out and grab one: they're fun rides!
My only regret is that GOBLIN WAR won't be up against A MAGIC OF TWILIGHT in the Final Four of the Bookspotcentral contest, since both our books were eliminated by our respective opponents in the Elite Eight. Alas -- but at least that saves my book by being overrun by the goblin hordes...
So... let's bring Jim on to talk about his process in the difficult art of writing novels. That's what you're here for, right?
Hello all, and thank you Steve! Not only do I appreciate the chance to babble all over your blog, but I was feeling stuck tonight, so this gives me the perfect excuse to procrastinate.
I’m currently in the middle of my sixth fantasy novel for DAW, which is also the eleventh novel I’ve ever written. (May those early, unpublished books remain locked in the trunk for all eternity.) By now I’ve done this enough that I’ve got the novel-writing thing down pat, and the process is pretty much routine.
And if you believe that....
My problem is that my process has changed with each book. Goblin Quest, my first published fantasy, was written in six weeks. I did an outline, wrote a draft, did some minor revisions, and sent that sucker off. (Where it languished in the slush pile for two and a half years, but that’s another story.)
Compare that to Red Hood’s Revenge, the book I’m writing now. Six weeks? I’ve probably spent six weeks on outlines alone. I’ve finished my first draft, but I’m now rewriting from scratch, because I managed to leave about half the story out the first time.
I can’t tell you what my process is, because it’s still changing. But I can talk about what my process is today, for this particular book. Red Hood started with a one-page synopsis that I used to sell the book to DAW. Go me! This was a while back, so when it was time to actually start writing, I went back to reread the synopsis.
Wait ... what was this thing? Where were my brilliant ideas from a year ago? Where was the exciting action, the shocking twists? I know I put them in there, but apparently the plot goblins got into my computer and messed with my writing folder, ’cause this wasn’t as nifty as I remembered.
So I started writing an outline, keeping the ideas I was excited about but veering from the synopsis in other places to make the whole thing better. At this point I was just trying to get a plot down on paper. My brain isn’t big enough to hold an entire novel, so I need that outline to keep the it all manageable.
Then, with outline in hand, I start to write. For the first few chapters, I’m in paradise. I’m producing an actual word count! I’m inventing exciting new characters! It’s James Bond meets Rumplestiltzin, and it rocks! I am a sexy, shoeless god of fantasy! I am--
Oh, crap. Let me take another look at that outline.... Yep, right around 30,000 words, the whole thing goes to smeg. It’s happened for at least the past four books. I suddenly realize my plot makes no sense, or my characters have no motivation, or my big shocking twist is ham-handed and obvious. My beautiful, shiny book is broken.
So I write another outline. I don’t start over on the book, because if I kept starting over I’d never finish. I just do a new outline, noting everything that needs to be changed, and then go back to writing the draft. With Red Hood, outline 2.0 got me through 2/3 of the book. At which point I realized my ending was still broken, and wrote outline 3.0. That one was enough to get me to those blessed words, “THE END”.
That’s the sweet spot in my process. I mentioned how my brain can’t hold an entire novel. An outline is really just a crutch. But now I have a complete draft. This is when I finally start to understand the book, to figure out all the deeper layers and character arcs and themes. This is where I get excited again.
And then, of course, I start all over with an empty Word document and begin draft 2. The rewrites are where I do most of my work to pull the story together. Each draft gets successively closer to a good (I hope), cohesive book. Unfortunately, the more I grow as a writer, the more complex my books become, and the more drafts I end up writing to reach that point. My previous book went through five rewrites. Who knows how many Red Hood will require.
Someday I hope my process will evolve (devolve?) back to where I was with Goblin Quest, and I’ll go back to finishing books in six weeks. Someday I also hope to visit the moon, develop superpowers, and build a working lightsaber. Any guess which of these is most likely to happen?
jimhines), the creator of Jig the Goblin and the Stepsisters. Jim is a fine novelist, and someone with a deft and very funny sense of humor. On top of that, he's a lot of fun in person as well. I was pleased to be able to spend some time with him recently at Millennicon and get to know him better. And besides, he has a fantastic con jacket... If you haven't yet read his books, then you owe it to yourself to go out and grab one: they're fun rides!My only regret is that GOBLIN WAR won't be up against A MAGIC OF TWILIGHT in the Final Four of the Bookspotcentral contest, since both our books were eliminated by our respective opponents in the Elite Eight. Alas -- but at least that saves my book by being overrun by the goblin hordes...
So... let's bring Jim on to talk about his process in the difficult art of writing novels. That's what you're here for, right?
Hello all, and thank you Steve! Not only do I appreciate the chance to babble all over your blog, but I was feeling stuck tonight, so this gives me the perfect excuse to procrastinate.
I’m currently in the middle of my sixth fantasy novel for DAW, which is also the eleventh novel I’ve ever written. (May those early, unpublished books remain locked in the trunk for all eternity.) By now I’ve done this enough that I’ve got the novel-writing thing down pat, and the process is pretty much routine.
And if you believe that....
My problem is that my process has changed with each book. Goblin Quest, my first published fantasy, was written in six weeks. I did an outline, wrote a draft, did some minor revisions, and sent that sucker off. (Where it languished in the slush pile for two and a half years, but that’s another story.)
Compare that to Red Hood’s Revenge, the book I’m writing now. Six weeks? I’ve probably spent six weeks on outlines alone. I’ve finished my first draft, but I’m now rewriting from scratch, because I managed to leave about half the story out the first time.
I can’t tell you what my process is, because it’s still changing. But I can talk about what my process is today, for this particular book. Red Hood started with a one-page synopsis that I used to sell the book to DAW. Go me! This was a while back, so when it was time to actually start writing, I went back to reread the synopsis.
Wait ... what was this thing? Where were my brilliant ideas from a year ago? Where was the exciting action, the shocking twists? I know I put them in there, but apparently the plot goblins got into my computer and messed with my writing folder, ’cause this wasn’t as nifty as I remembered.
So I started writing an outline, keeping the ideas I was excited about but veering from the synopsis in other places to make the whole thing better. At this point I was just trying to get a plot down on paper. My brain isn’t big enough to hold an entire novel, so I need that outline to keep the it all manageable.
Then, with outline in hand, I start to write. For the first few chapters, I’m in paradise. I’m producing an actual word count! I’m inventing exciting new characters! It’s James Bond meets Rumplestiltzin, and it rocks! I am a sexy, shoeless god of fantasy! I am--
Oh, crap. Let me take another look at that outline.... Yep, right around 30,000 words, the whole thing goes to smeg. It’s happened for at least the past four books. I suddenly realize my plot makes no sense, or my characters have no motivation, or my big shocking twist is ham-handed and obvious. My beautiful, shiny book is broken.
So I write another outline. I don’t start over on the book, because if I kept starting over I’d never finish. I just do a new outline, noting everything that needs to be changed, and then go back to writing the draft. With Red Hood, outline 2.0 got me through 2/3 of the book. At which point I realized my ending was still broken, and wrote outline 3.0. That one was enough to get me to those blessed words, “THE END”.
That’s the sweet spot in my process. I mentioned how my brain can’t hold an entire novel. An outline is really just a crutch. But now I have a complete draft. This is when I finally start to understand the book, to figure out all the deeper layers and character arcs and themes. This is where I get excited again.
And then, of course, I start all over with an empty Word document and begin draft 2. The rewrites are where I do most of my work to pull the story together. Each draft gets successively closer to a good (I hope), cohesive book. Unfortunately, the more I grow as a writer, the more complex my books become, and the more drafts I end up writing to reach that point. My previous book went through five rewrites. Who knows how many Red Hood will require.
Someday I hope my process will evolve (devolve?) back to where I was with Goblin Quest, and I’ll go back to finishing books in six weeks. Someday I also hope to visit the moon, develop superpowers, and build a working lightsaber. Any guess which of these is most likely to happen?
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