As my sixth novel releases today, I find myself reflecting
on my author journey, which began four years ago.
The first draft of my initial book took a year to craft. At
the time, it was a bloated, rough, unwieldy thing that sorely needed revisions
and editing. Another sixth months, and dozens of revisions later, I had something
that resembled a publishable book. In comparison, it now takes me about six
months to produce a better, more refined story, from concept to release. While
writing a fiction novel is largely a creative endeavor, the final result is
still a product. As with any product, a refined process will ensure better
results in a shorter period. That is what I wish to share with you today.
Fellow authors, some less seasoned than myself, others with
far more experience, often ask me about my writing process. Even readers
inquire about it. I believe that each author must discover what works for him/her,
and that often begins by learning about what works for others. Here is what
works for me.
I begin with an outline – one that is far less detailed than
what I used for my first few books. It is more of a list of key plot points
that will guide me, similar to points on a map. I ensure the story stops at
each point, but I am unsure of how I will get from one point to another until
the characters take me there. With that in place, and my key characters defined
(that’s a whole different blog post), I write. The first draft of an 80K-90K
word novel takes about eight weeks for me to craft.
Revisions come next, fleshing out the story, polishing the
prose, and dragging emotion out of my characters. Sometimes, I revise during the
first draft as well. Regardless, three total revision rounds yield the results
I desire.
Technical edits follow my revisions. This is the term I use
when leveraging software that analyzes my book and points out areas of
improvement, including repeated words, phrases, adverb use, and a myriad of
other potential grammar improvements. The revision/technical editing phase
requires four weeks to complete, putting the calendar at twelve weeks since I
began. That’s when I kick my book off to my editor.
My editor, who focuses on copy editing but also provides developmental
feedback, spends about three weeks with the book before it returns to me. I
spend another week incorporating edits and then the book heads to my
proofreader. However, during the three weeks when the book is with my editor, I
have already outlined the subsequent novel and am prepare to begin the first
draft.
Proofreading takes a week, followed by a day for me to fix
the errors discovered. My book then goes out to beta readers, who have two
weeks to pour through the material and provide feedback. Advanced Reader
Copies(ARC) are then sent out to my ARC team, giving them four to five weeks to
read the book and offer feedback before it releases. During this activity, I
continue writing the next book. When release day comes, six months after I
began, the first draft of the sequel is complete. At the same time, the new
release should have around thirty reader reviews ready to roll from my ARC team.
This process is working and allowing me to release three to
four books a year. It took time to develop and required testing various models
during my first four releases. Now that my writing process is firmly in place,
I feel confident that I am weaving exciting adventures filled with interesting
characters that will result in a quality, enjoyable book for eager fantasy
readers, young and old.
Writing Process Summary:
·
Weeks 1-8 Outline/rough
draft
·
Weeks 9-12 Revisions/technical
edits
·
Week 13 Send
to editor
o
Begin outlining the next book
·
Weeks 14-16 Editor
and incorporating edits
o
Begin first draft of next book
·
Weeks 17-19 Proofreader/beta
readers
·
Weeks 20-24 ARC
Readers
·
Week 25 Release
o
By the time release hits, I am 8 weeks into the
process for the subsequent book, with a complete first draft
