Tag Archives: Research

The Creative Writing Process

Posted on by under Writing, Writing Process
(c) Caleb Roenigk

When we first learn about creative writing, we are taught one path to follow as the creative process:

  • Brainstorm/Research
  • Outline
  • Write
  • Edit
  • Revise

The exact wording of this list varies depending on where you were taught, but the bones of the list is inherently taught. For young writers, this is a good list as a place to start. The list gives them the structure and direction on how to get from point A (what do you want to write about?) to point Z (a finished story).

However, as we grow our creative writing skill, we eventually find that we don’t fit the mold we were taught as children. We have become, ourselves, a unique writer. One who blazes their own path forward in delivering stories. It’s a personalized approach that evolves as we become more seasoned.

You could be a plotter. You could be a pantser. You could be one who writes inspiration from a dream and only during the editing phase, figure out what the story is about. You could be someone who writes the ending first then goes back to figure out how to get to that end. You could be a mid-prose editor, who writes a chapter then edits versus editing when you have your story fully written. You could be someone whose process is what they were first taught.

There is nothing wrong with any of these processes. You are developing YOUR story through YOUR own creative writing process. There is no “one size fits all” process because we are individuals and our brains are wired differently.

How do you find the best writing process for you?

The only sage advice I can give is to experiment and find what feels right. Up until a few years ago, I was a pantser for all forms of creative writing. “Sit down and go” was my motto. Today, I am a psudo-plotter. What I mean by that is I write the ending first then write an outline starting from the beginning. Having my ending defined helps me build the plot and characters that will get the reader to that end. I am sure in another few years as my writing skill evolves, my process will morph into something new.

Thus, dear reader, I cannot give you any secrets to unlocking what your writing process because there is no grand secret. You have go out there and write! Your process will develop on its own to what feels most natural for you. Expect it to evolve over time as you grow as a seasoned writer and don’t worry if you notice that you have a different process for different story types. Your writing process for novels may look very different from your writing process for short stories.

What is your writing process? Have you seen your writing process change over the years? Do you have different writing processes for short stories, novels, poetry, et cetera?

The Horror of BS

Posted on by under Writing Process

Last week I posted on The Sarcastic Muse about the importance of research.  I am reposting that post here because I cannot stress enough that the key to a successful story includes having all the correct facts.  Authors cannot make up a load of BS and expect the reader to be accepting (unless that unsettled, distrustful feeling is what you want the reader to have).

Research is what pushes an author’s work that extra mile.  In the end, research saves on the horrifying experience of being called out on made up facts.

 

Don’t Make Me Call BS

We are human, which enables us to inherently perceive bullshit.  Hemingway once said that a writer must develop an internal bullshit detector.  In other words, a writer must be able to look at their work and distinguish that it is not flat out full of mumbo-jumbo.  One small piece of BS could figuratively force a reader to throw out a book.  A reader must feel like they can attribute factual merit to a writer’s work.

A sure fire solution to prevent a piece of writing from being, well, a load of crap is research.

Ah, I see I now have the attention of the fact checkers!

To read the full post, please click here.

 

Silence in the Library (c) Kevin_P

Silence in the Library (c) Kevin_P

 

As a special note, there is less than one month until the Shore Leave convention!  As a special tribute to the release of the Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity anthology, author Phil Giunta will be posting a weekly interview with all of the authors from the anthology.

Last week, Phil posted his interview with yours truly, which can be read here.

This week, he posted an interview with the talented Susanna Reilly, which can be read here.

Keep an eye out on his blog for the weekly interview post with each anthology author.  The posts will occur up until the release of Somewhere in the Middle of Eternity at the Shore Leave convention on August  1st, 2014.