Thought I'd do something a bit different here on my blog site besides promoting my own books, so I'll be posting an occasional blog piece every so often about the craft of writing that I've learned over the years.
And continue to learn. That's the thing, and ask any writer, published or not...it's a lifelong journey in growing and developing. Finding your way down that twisting, winding path.
Hence the clever heading...No Write Way.
So let's start with a little history about me. I just turned 52 this week (Yikes...really?) and I first started writing my own stories when I picked up one of the old Mack Bolan Men's Action/Adventure series novels called Thermal Thursday. I was hooked and scoured area used bookstores for me, along with the recently published new novels from Gold Eagle and the spin offs. Then I discovered others in a similar vein, such as Jerry Ahern's novels. Being a very artistically creative kid, it was only natural and inevitable. Most of my early efforts were handwritten on notebook paper and bound together with those twisty clips. Eventually I got my first typewriter. My folks still have a big box of my early writings, and while I haven't looked at those in years, they are fairly juvenile, not very good (by my standards today, of course), and basically teenage me emulating the authors I'd been so devouring at the time. But this is all part of what I'd mentioned previously...part of the process.
(Not my actual notes!)
Then, shortly after graduating high school and entering college, I discovered Stephen King. Needless to say, I fell in love and once again devoured everything by him I could find (mainly at the Edison Mall bookstore), along with Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, Peter Straub, and Clive Barker. I'd also picked up this funky little gaudy paperback at Wal-Mart by this relative unknown guy named Richard Laymon, but it would be years before I'd realized what a true dark gem he was...
Still with me? Good...sorry for the rambling. It's kind of a writer thing, ya know?
So back then I would outline a story, which was usually a long piece like a potential novel, but I had started a few years later with penning my first horror short stories. Before I get into that process, let me spend a moment or two talking about the setting, so to speak. The time and place where the Master Wordsmith sits to create his tales. It would be nice if we all could be fulltime writers, and maybe someday that'll happen, but reality it is rare. And quite frankly, I like having things like a roof over my head, electricity, and food. That whole starving artist thing is a crock of shit. Fuck that noise.
(Not my actual typewriter, either!)
Let's face it, we all have (or most of us, anyway) fulltime jobs and families and other responsibilities, so finding the right time (or is that write time? Hahahaha!) can be challenging. What works best for me, and probably for most, is to do so when you're as fresh as possible, and not tired and exhausted from a day's work, etc. For most of us, getting in those chunks of time, either early in the morning or later in the evening, works best. And sometimes, yes, you have to make yourself sit down at the desk, maybe have a cup of tea, and start hitting the keyboard. Not literally, of course. Have some music on low as background noise, but no death metal. Unless that's your thing.
(Yes, my workspace!)
The key is being as focused as you can be...with minimal distractions! Which means keeping that smartphone and/or tablet not sitting next to you where whenever a notification pops up...yeah, you guessed it.
I also prefer my laptop to not have anything on it like social media apps etc...for just that reason. But that's me. Maybe you have better willpower or focus. Again, like the heading of the long rambling diatribe suggests (still awake...still with me?)...there's no write way!
So I'll finish up by talking about outlining and what works for me and maybe you as well.
In a nutshell, I stopped outlining before I got heavily into writing because I'd soon discovered that even doing shorthand sort of bullet point notes, I was mostly writing the story or chapter in full anyway. I know other authors who outline, some extensively with detailed character sketches, and that's great. But not for me. I do keep a notepad on my desk and depending on what I'm working on, it may just be a few important details I don't want to forget. Or more. I also jot notes down in either my smartphone note app or on my tablet. Ultimately, it has taken me years to have the confidence and comfort level with the process that works best for me. I'm much more of an organic, write by the seat of my pants kind of writer. Usually...it works. Sometimes it doesn't.
(Dude, I got a Dell!)
The trick is this. There is no write way...except finding what works best for YOU. And that's part of the process and journey of being a writer. Embrace it.
