{"id":725,"date":"2015-09-30T20:06:57","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T03:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=725"},"modified":"2015-09-30T20:06:57","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T03:06:57","slug":"my-writing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=725","title":{"rendered":"My Writing Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday evening. \u00a0It’s time to sit down at my favorite writing Starbucks and make some more progress on The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>. \u00a0At the rate I’m going, I may have the entire second draft done before November.<\/p>\n

Before I get into it, I’m going to take a moment to talk about my writing process, and how my personality affects my writing process (thanks again for the suggestion, Lauren<\/a>!). \u00a0To talk about this subject, I’m going to break it into different categories.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Managing Time and Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m writing part time. \u00a0This is important, because my process would be completely different if I could\u00a0write full time. \u00a0As it is now, I never have enough time to accomplish\u00a0what I want to in a single writing session. \u00a0If I needed writing the way I need food, I’d be a gnarled, wispy figure, constantly on the edge of starvation.<\/p>\n

Like a starving man at a banquet, I can’t indulge myself as much as I want to, even when I’m wealthy with free time. \u00a0Occasionally I’m able to sit and write for 8 hours or more, feeling like I’ve\u00a0utilized the time wisely. \u00a0Most of the time, I’m exhausted after just a few hours. \u00a0When that happens, I become disappointed with myself.<\/p>\n

With all of my commitments, I’m able to dedicate every Wednesday evening to writing. \u00a0Sometimes I write on Thursday evenings as well, and there’s usually some time every weekend. \u00a0Wednesday evening is the only time I have truly dedicated to writing at the moment, however. \u00a0Some weeks, that’s the only time I write.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I Need to Accomplish Something<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve talked before about how important confidence<\/a> is to my writing. \u00a0It’s still true. \u00a0Sometimes I can fake it until I make it, but a really easy way to feel more confident is just to accomplish something. \u00a0Sometimes that can mean meeting a goal, such as finishing a chapter or meeting an arbitrary word count. \u00a0Most weeks, I feel accomplished by writing a blog post.<\/p>\n

Most Wednesdays, part of my process is sitting down and writing a blog post like this one. \u00a0In addition to exercising my ability to pull words out of air, it makes me feel like a real writer. \u00a0Writing the blog post detracts from my time working on fiction, but it makes up for it by giving me the positive feelings I need in order to keep going.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Plotting, Planning, and Winging It<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m a sporadically organized person. \u00a0My car is clean, but my workstation in the garage is cluttered. \u00a0My desk at work is impeccable, but the area next to my bed is a disorganized mess. \u00a0I prefer to live in a clean, well ordered environment, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to make it so. \u00a0My writing process reflects this.<\/p>\n

Over a year ago, I switched from using Word to using Scrivener, so I have powerful organizational tools at my disposal. \u00a0I store writing notes and character sheets in Scrivener. \u00a0But often, there isn’t much information on those character sheets. \u00a0I rarely look at my notes.<\/p>\n

I believe this is because a lot of the “writing” I do isn’t in front of the computer. \u00a0I still walk about a mile everyday, and I think about my stories while I’m walking. \u00a0I think about scenes and characters and plot points when I’m between tasks at work. \u00a0Sometimes, I think about my stories while I’m listening to an audiobook in the car.<\/p>\n

Just like when I’m programming, I build the parts in my head before my hands touch the keyboard. \u00a0I used to think that I wrote everything by the seat of my pants, but I’m starting to believe I’m more of a plotter. \u00a0I still don’t want to spoil the story before I’ve written it, but I definitely know where the story every step of the way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Putting the Words Down
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

My ideas come from various sources. \u00a0Where my ideas come from is less important than the actual act of writing them down. \u00a0I’ve established that I need time, confidence through accomplishment, and a mental road map in order to write. \u00a0But what about the actual writing itself?<\/p>\n

Over time, and through the benefit of receiving feedback from\u00a0some talented writers, I’ve learned some of my bad habits and weaknesses. \u00a0I’ve learned that I use a passive voice frequently. \u00a0I’ve learned that I use adverbs like they’re going out of style. \u00a0I’ve learned that I use a lot of unnecessary blocking.<\/p>\n

Knowing these things helps me clean up my work as I go. \u00a0With every\u00a0sentence, I look back and try to find my common mistakes. \u00a0Did I use the word “was”? \u00a0How many words end in “ly”? \u00a0Am I breaking up the dialogue unnecessarily, or providing information that is not critical to the scene?<\/p>\n

I want each word to sound right in my mind. \u00a0I want each sentence to flow into the next, without unnecessary or distracting repetition. \u00a0I want the paragraphs to feel the right length. \u00a0I want the chapter to end in such a way that the reader is encouraged to turn the next page and keep reading.<\/p>\n

I see the words, and\u00a0I hear them in my head, too. \u00a0I think that’s why dialogue is one of my strengths.<\/p>\n

Obviously, I should worry about these things while editing, and I do. \u00a0But I also think about these things during the first draft. \u00a0The benefit of this approach is that my first drafts come out relatively clean. \u00a0The downside is that it makes the writing process a little bit slower.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Environment Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n

I write in Starbucks often. \u00a0It gets me out of the house and around disinterested strangers. \u00a0It also provides the right kind of background noise.<\/p>\n

Writing at home can be a challenge. \u00a0At home, there are video games in the garage. \u00a0In the living area, someone usually has the TV on, with Netflix playing. \u00a0Random noise and quiet conversations are one thing. \u00a0A coherent story taking place within earshot is something else entirely. \u00a0I’m unable to block out a video, even if the video is something I’m not interested in watching.<\/p>\n

Some people are able to listen to music when they write, but not me. \u00a0When I’m listening to music, I’m unable to focus on my writing. \u00a0I can listen to EDM or Pop when I’m programming, but music seems to drown out the voices in my head when I’m writing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m not sure I’ve included much information about how my personality impacts my writing process. \u00a0The last time I took the Meyers-Briggs, I was described as INFJ. \u00a0I don’t usually like to be categorized, so I don’t usually spend time thinking about personality types, or\u00a0how I can be broken down into basic parts. \u00a0Sometimes, I feel like I’m working against myself. \u00a0Other times, I feel like I’ve navigated the quagmire of my quirks and habits to great effect, and I feel clever.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I’m looking forward to the day when I feel like I’ve made it. \u00a0That involves some sort of external validation, but I’m not sure what that looks like yet. \u00a0I’ll know it when I get there. \u00a0Until then, I’ll just keep going. \u00a0I want to be a great writer, and great writer perseveres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday evening. \u00a0It’s time to sit down at my favorite writing Starbucks and make some more progress on The Repossessed Ghost. \u00a0At the rate I’m going, I may have the entire second draft done before November. Before I get into it, I’m going to take a moment to talk about my writing process, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}