This isn’t going to be as profound and in depth as, say, The Hero’s Journey so don’t get your hopes up.
Here’s how writing goes. For me at least.
First, there’s this spark of an idea. It’s usually pretty exciting. “Hey, what would happen if there was this guy and he was a _____ and he met up with this guy/chick who was like _____…” For me, there’s usually a visual or a scene. I first imagined Johnnie and Tyler playing video games. Aaron was sitting at Ki’s desk, fixing his laptop, with Ki hovering over him. Seth grabbed Kyle from behind in the dark after Kyle just discovered the papers missing from the safe. Diana was chained up before Salin. Meg threw a leashing spell at two shapeshifters. There are more sparks, but those happened to have borne fruit.
Second, the fruit. I come up with tons of kewl scenes a day, but not all of them stay with me. Most of them peter out into the ether. But, occasionally, the character(s) will hang on. S/he will keep talking to me and show me another scene. So now I’m curious about them, which is the fruit. If I’m curious, then there’s a seed to the story. What’s the deal with these elves? Who the hell is this Seth guy? How did Tyler rank playing video games with the rock god? Why’s Aaron so shy? If a character can get me to start asking questions, then we’re rocking. If I’m Poser-inclined at the time, this is usually when I give a shot at visualizing the character.
Third, the first scene. We know we’re really somewhere if I actually write a scene. Yes, there are some word docs on my hard drive of scenes and characters that haven’t made it anywhere, but I’d like to put a “yet” on those documents rather than abandoning them altogether. If the characters got me as far as creating a doc for them, then they’re probably going to get a story.
Fourth, the writing begins. Now, there may be quite a gap between steps three and four. These days, it’s usually because I’m finishing off the final steps of the previous story. So, while I might write that first scene of a story while I’m writing about completely different characters, it’s usually just because I need to get it down and out of my head so I can go on with what I should be doing. Also these days, the writing begins because I’ve already signed a contract. At least for my Loose Id stories. Helps that they’re in series :). Anyway, the writing begins. Picture this as a trek up a mountain. At the very beginning, it’s not so bad. Things are fresh, ground is level, we’ve just begun the journey so it’s all exciting.
Then we hit the first snag. I’ve given up thinking that I won’t hit it. I expect it now. There will be a point, relatively early on, where I’m going to need to go back and radically change what I’ve got. A lot of this is because I’m a pantser and not a plotter. I typically have a vague idea of where I’m going with a story, but it’s amazing how many other little intriguing paths I can find once I start. If we go back to the trek/hike idea, it’s like I have a planned route but… ooo! Lookie at that path! I looks pretty. Let’s see where that goes. And sometimes that happens a lot. I’ll go down one path for awhile and find out that it wasn’t as pretty as I thought. So I go back to where I deviated–or farther–and probably set back down the original path, until I find another sideline. This is the first point where my crit partners and first reader start to hear the complaints. This is when I start to not like the characters, or realize that they’re not giving me enough information. This is where I first start to get scared that what I thought was a cool idea isn’t so much.
Eventually, this levels off. I go through the “first snag” cycle a number of times and finally find a path that, for better or worse, I decide to stick with. That’s when I kind of hit a plateau of sorts. Writing becomes easier again because now I’m just conveying the story and not fighting. The characters are talking and everyone’s headed toward a common goal.
Then, typically about 2/3 of the way through the book, I become convinced that it’s absolute shit and I can’t believe that I ever thought it was good. I’m serious, guys, I do it every time. Ask the CPs. It’s so predictable now that I can actually name it when I start to grumble about it. The SO, the CPs and my first reader all listen very nicely and just wait me out. I’m never very happy about it. I usually get quiet. On this hike, this is where I reach the really steady incline that’s taking me toward the top. I’m tired and bitchy and just don’t want to do this anymore. I do just about anything and everything I can think of NOT to write.
But this too does pass. After nearly deleting my files a number of times and stressing about making whatever deadline I have looming, I eventually come to terms with whatever demons are plaguing me and I give myself permission to write an ending. Yes, “an” ending. I’m rarely convinced that it’s “the” ending. I’m usually pretty sure that it’s horrible and going to need to change, but I like the idea of at least finishing. That, I think, gets me about 4/5 of the way up the mountain. I can see the top now but it doesn’t really look as shiny and cool as it did when I started.
Then comes the really annoying part. Going back and polishing. Rereading what I’ve written (guh!) and applying any crits that I haven’t already. Gutting scenes that now have nothing to do with the ending and figuring out a better way to write them. This is tedious to the extreme but it’s necessary. This is where the first reader and sometimes the CPs have to read everything again (bless their beautiful hearts!) and convince me that it’s good. It’s a trudge but I go on because now I’ve usually got a deadline looming. At the end of this stage is where the beta readers (fresh meat!) get a copy then I need to go through their comments and another read-through or two. By this point, I’m heartily sick of the story and never, ever want to see it again.
Then I finally make it. The ms, for better or for worse, is done. It gets sent to the editor. I, personally, count this as the top of the mountain. Why? Because the real work is done. Yes, yes, there are edits to go through, but that’s just polish. By the time my stories have gone through the people I’ve sent it through, it’s pretty darn clean.
So now we’re on the way down the other side of the mountain and things pick up speed. Now I can start getting people excited about the story. About halfway down the mountain, I actually start to get excited again. If I’m lucky, by the time it’s released, I like it again. Usually, however, me liking it again takes a month or two.
So, um, that’s it. Okay, I skipped a few parts, but that’s mostly it. It’s scaling a mountain. Sometimes, I even do two at the same time x_x
*curtsies*
Written by Jet Mykles
Jet is a writer of sexual fantasy with a firm belief that all men are at least partially gay, that vampires are just people with a liquid diet and shapeshifters live on every block.
Visit The Author's Website
Recent Comments