Kambrie Williams
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hey Michael! I have a question regarding you being an author and your writing technique. I just wanted to ask about how you form outlines for your work or what you write before you actually start writing your novels. When you first get an idea for a story or a character or a world, what do you usually do? Also I love your books and am excited to catch up on the legends of the first empire series!
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey Kambrie,
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
More Answered Questions
Doug
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Maybe because 2020 is evil I haven't been able to connect w/ your main site: Firefox detected a potential security threat and did not continue to www.riyria.blogspot.com because this website requires a secure connection. Can you create a secure connection? I doubt the issue is on my end lol.
Jerome Fajardo
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hi Michael! Big fan of your work here! By the way, I bought the audiobook of The Riyria Chronicles Death of Dulgath, and I'm on chapter 7 now. I can't stop thinking about the piano song you used in that chapter! Do you happen to know the name of the track? It's been stuck in my head for days now. PS: The part I'm referring to is around 48:19 - 50:40 in the audiobook.
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