How I Write

"Easy reading is damn hard writing." - Nathaniel Hawthorne


Vaguely, I recall reading or hearing somewhere that there is nothing more obnoxious than writers talking about writing. I generally agree with this, and so I tend to discuss writing with other writers; lucky for me, most of my friends are writers. Actually, no, that's not luck at all. That was deliberate. Like a number of modern authors, I can say that I got my start in fanfiction, and that is where I met some of my dearest friends. So we're all writers, and we all talk about writing, and I actually don't find any of them obnoxious at all.


Writing is hard. Writing is really, really hard. In fact, a short list of things that are easier than writing is: replacing a transmission, driving a stick shift, getting into the University of Texas at Austin, giving birth, and being a mother. I have done all of these things. They were easy compared to writing even a short story. 


But I won't be giving up writing anytime soon, and I won't be letting writing get easier. When writing is easy, it's probably a sign that the writing is crap. (There are exceptions; sometimes, a story just flows out of you. Those exceptions are pure magic.) 


Writing, for me, usually involves several steps, retracing those steps, and doing tons of research. It takes lots of time, lots of effort, lots of energy, lots of late nights, lots of pots of coffee, more than a few drinks, and, finally, the triumph of something completed. 


Do you remember in school when they had you "brainstorm" a topic? I still kind of do that. I begin by writing down a one-line premise. After that, I make notes: character names, locations, any necessary quotes or descriptions. Sometimes, I even jot down the "point" of the writing, whatever it is I want to say. 


After that, I come up with a summary that is no more than two to four sentences long. Any more than that, and it means I don't have a clear idea of what it is I'm trying to write. Most of my stories can boil down to a single sentence, or maybe even two. I've learned in the last ten years that if I can't summarize a story in just a handful of words, then I certainly can't tell it properly in several thousand. 


With the summary in front of me, I make a bullet list of things that have to happen in order for my story to make its point. The length of the list depends on the length of the story. 


Now, when it comes to short stories, this is fairly simple. I usually have three to five things on this list; chaptered stories are considerably longer. If I'm writing a short story, I skip the next step and move on to the action-draft, but when I write chapters, I...


...create one-line summaries of each chapter, followed by a bullet list of the required events in each chapter.


Once that is done, and I have both a clear idea of what I want and how it's going to happen, I move on to the action-draft. 


The action-draft is something that, as far as I can tell, I came up with. I'm the only person I know who writes like this. It's a blueprint for the story I'm writing. The action-draft is my first draft, my "rough" draft, in that it is the roughest version of the full story I can pound out. It contains action, feelings, impressions, and dialogue only. It is usually organized into the proper paragraphs and chapters. There is no proper grammar, it is usually in present tense (though I frequently use the wrong tense), and there are few adjectives, few articles, and few pronouns. 


Once this is done and I'm happy with it, I go back to the beginning and I begin to write. For every single action-draft word, I usually write about two or three words. For each sentence, two or three sentences take its place. 


And then, I edit. 


Each story, each chapter, usually goes through three edits. When it comes to fanfiction, I send it off to a "beta" reader; I have had one amazing beta reader for close to ten years, and, with any luck, I'll be able to convince her to be my editor for the current novel. If I'm particularly self-conscious about the story, I'll ask a few of my friends to give it a pre-read and give me feedback. 


Google is my friend, as is an LJ community called "little_details." I use both extensively when it comes to research. I draw on my own experiences and my mini library of books at home and on my Kindle. I don't feel like I can ever do enough research. I want whatever story I'm telling to be as accurately detailed as possible. 


I'm kind of neurotic that way. 


Writing can drive me crazy and it can burn me out, but I will never, ever give it up. I love it too much. It's the single hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, and I still love it. 


Non-writers think I'm crazy. Writers I know just give me a sad, sympathetic look and nod. They get it. They know.


And maybe you do, too.