In The Demon’s Head #242: Diary of a Demented Man: My Process
September 21, 2015
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of In The Demon’s Head. My Diary of a Demented man segment is in full force. I’m very much excited by some of the feedback that I’ve received from these post and I hope that the love continues to flood my way as I do more of these post leading into next month.
That’s enough of the bullshit chit chat though. Today’s post is a very strange one. Much like a lot of the things that I’m post in this series, I’m sharing with people for the first time the process that I take when it comes to working on a story or a novel. I would say that this process works the same way with poetry but it really doesn’t instead, with poetry I just fucking write it. I don’t really care about a lot of things at the time. If I care later, I go back and edit.
September 21, 2015
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of In The Demon’s Head. My Diary of a Demented man segment is in full force. I’m very much excited by some of the feedback that I’ve received from these post and I hope that the love continues to flood my way as I do more of these post leading into next month.
That’s enough of the bullshit chit chat though. Today’s post is a very strange one. Much like a lot of the things that I’m post in this series, I’m sharing with people for the first time the process that I take when it comes to working on a story or a novel. I would say that this process works the same way with poetry but it really doesn’t instead, with poetry I just fucking write it. I don’t really care about a lot of things at the time. If I care later, I go back and edit.
With that said, let’s get into this process. If you’re a writer at home and you do some of these things awesome, I’d love to hear about some of them in the comments.
Outlining
95 percent of my ideas start with a topic, which I flesh out into an outline first and foremost. Now, I know that this might go against what I said last week when it comes to letting your ideas flow organically. But, hear me out.
I create a loose outline. I come up with the beginning, middle, and the way I see it ending. That doesn’t mean that the ending won’t change but I lay out some loose building blocks so that I know kind of what direction I want to take with a particular story.
Then, in the case of the novel, I map out the first 5 or so chapters with brief captions of each Chapter. I started doing this when I started using Scrivner late last year. It’s something that’s really helped me grow as a writer, and improve in a lot of the areas of my writing, including novels. After that, I flesh out my characters, I know a little about them, but I am still slowly learning more about the Character generator as it refers to my story. At this point, I also know the setting. Then it’s time to get writing.
Writing
Writing is a beast in and of itself. I say that because if you sit down to write words everyday you know what it’s like to stare at the blank pages. I promise you, it’s a daunting thing and it’s even worse when you place a deadline or a word count goal on yourself, which I tend to do so that I stay a step ahead and keep moving forward.
In my last project, I didn’t really know how many words the story would shape into. I did know roughly how many I thought it would take so I started there. I had to write between 1300-1600 words a day every single day. Why? Because I’m damn determined. Every project I start will be met with this kind of determination. Why? Because you have to work your ass off to make in this profession, and I know that.
When I finally reach the end, and I type the words that mean that it’s safe to close the document for the last time for a while. I feel a bit of a weight lift off my chest, not particularly because of the story but because I now have another story out there that I’d like the world to see.
Editing
It’s this step that I feel like I hate more then any other step in my creative process. It’s not even for the reasons that you might think. It’s not because it’s the hardest thing to destroy something I’ve created. It’s not because I thought that certain things should be moved around and they didn’t line up. It wasn’t because any of that.
It was because it took so much fucking time.
There’s no way to emphasis that enough. I understand it’s a needed evil. I understand that it’s something that has to be done. I don’t know of any writer who can churn out first drafts that are absolute gold from the first key stroke. At least that’s the way I look at it. I could be wrong but I doubt it. I just wish that the process wasn’t so draining on the author it takes a lot of time and it’s a pain in the ass.
Three Passes
Different authors have different ways that they go through the editing process. For me, I do hard edits first, and implement them. Then I send it to an editor and have him go through it. I receive it back and my second draft becomes a third draft. I send out a couple of bata reader copies and they return their feedback and I implement what I like while formatting the last draft of the story for publication. So in essence I create four drafts of my stories. Before I reach the end goal.
Prep Work
There’s a small step that I almost forgot before you publish. You have to do the prep-work for publication. In my case, I try to create a book cover, and a book trailer. Shit, most times it seems like these process could take longer then writing the actual book. At least in the case of the first trailer and cover I made. I’ve made it my goal to get more proficient with both photo and video editors so it curves the time. But hell it’s stuff that needs done.
Publishing
I’ve set out to follow the indie route. I don’t know if it will be fruitful for me but I can hope so. I do know that this path gives me the most creative freedom and that’s the part that I love. I do want to make a living doing this, sure, but I don’t want to see my works compromised and destroyed because someone who didn’t write it thinks they see a better vision.
To me that’s not writing.
I get it ready on platforms like Smashwords, Amazon, Barns and Noble, and with the novels that I’m working on I think I’m going to be working on a P.O.D publisher as well. I have to look into that a little more yet though. That’s a bit of a scary road to walk down for sure.
Afterward
When I finish a project and it gets posted onto the digital shelf. I start all over again. Right now, I’m working on an entire trilogy. So I’ve been circumventing some steps for now, but I’ll come back to it. It’s a process that I’ve learned works well, and I hope that it continues to work for me as I move forward.
For now, if you haven’t done so yet be sure to join my mailing list by clicking here. Be sure to share your comments in the bottom section. I would love to see your thoughts. You can also join me on Facebook by clicking here. Last, you can send me topics you want my opinions on by clicking here and sending me an email.
Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.
Outlining
95 percent of my ideas start with a topic, which I flesh out into an outline first and foremost. Now, I know that this might go against what I said last week when it comes to letting your ideas flow organically. But, hear me out.
I create a loose outline. I come up with the beginning, middle, and the way I see it ending. That doesn’t mean that the ending won’t change but I lay out some loose building blocks so that I know kind of what direction I want to take with a particular story.
Then, in the case of the novel, I map out the first 5 or so chapters with brief captions of each Chapter. I started doing this when I started using Scrivner late last year. It’s something that’s really helped me grow as a writer, and improve in a lot of the areas of my writing, including novels. After that, I flesh out my characters, I know a little about them, but I am still slowly learning more about the Character generator as it refers to my story. At this point, I also know the setting. Then it’s time to get writing.
Writing
Writing is a beast in and of itself. I say that because if you sit down to write words everyday you know what it’s like to stare at the blank pages. I promise you, it’s a daunting thing and it’s even worse when you place a deadline or a word count goal on yourself, which I tend to do so that I stay a step ahead and keep moving forward.
In my last project, I didn’t really know how many words the story would shape into. I did know roughly how many I thought it would take so I started there. I had to write between 1300-1600 words a day every single day. Why? Because I’m damn determined. Every project I start will be met with this kind of determination. Why? Because you have to work your ass off to make in this profession, and I know that.
When I finally reach the end, and I type the words that mean that it’s safe to close the document for the last time for a while. I feel a bit of a weight lift off my chest, not particularly because of the story but because I now have another story out there that I’d like the world to see.
Editing
It’s this step that I feel like I hate more then any other step in my creative process. It’s not even for the reasons that you might think. It’s not because it’s the hardest thing to destroy something I’ve created. It’s not because I thought that certain things should be moved around and they didn’t line up. It wasn’t because any of that.
It was because it took so much fucking time.
There’s no way to emphasis that enough. I understand it’s a needed evil. I understand that it’s something that has to be done. I don’t know of any writer who can churn out first drafts that are absolute gold from the first key stroke. At least that’s the way I look at it. I could be wrong but I doubt it. I just wish that the process wasn’t so draining on the author it takes a lot of time and it’s a pain in the ass.
Three Passes
Different authors have different ways that they go through the editing process. For me, I do hard edits first, and implement them. Then I send it to an editor and have him go through it. I receive it back and my second draft becomes a third draft. I send out a couple of bata reader copies and they return their feedback and I implement what I like while formatting the last draft of the story for publication. So in essence I create four drafts of my stories. Before I reach the end goal.
Prep Work
There’s a small step that I almost forgot before you publish. You have to do the prep-work for publication. In my case, I try to create a book cover, and a book trailer. Shit, most times it seems like these process could take longer then writing the actual book. At least in the case of the first trailer and cover I made. I’ve made it my goal to get more proficient with both photo and video editors so it curves the time. But hell it’s stuff that needs done.
Publishing
I’ve set out to follow the indie route. I don’t know if it will be fruitful for me but I can hope so. I do know that this path gives me the most creative freedom and that’s the part that I love. I do want to make a living doing this, sure, but I don’t want to see my works compromised and destroyed because someone who didn’t write it thinks they see a better vision.
To me that’s not writing.
I get it ready on platforms like Smashwords, Amazon, Barns and Noble, and with the novels that I’m working on I think I’m going to be working on a P.O.D publisher as well. I have to look into that a little more yet though. That’s a bit of a scary road to walk down for sure.
Afterward
When I finish a project and it gets posted onto the digital shelf. I start all over again. Right now, I’m working on an entire trilogy. So I’ve been circumventing some steps for now, but I’ll come back to it. It’s a process that I’ve learned works well, and I hope that it continues to work for me as I move forward.
For now, if you haven’t done so yet be sure to join my mailing list by clicking here. Be sure to share your comments in the bottom section. I would love to see your thoughts. You can also join me on Facebook by clicking here. Last, you can send me topics you want my opinions on by clicking here and sending me an email.
Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.