Book Club discussion

To the authors of the group. Tell us some of your techniques through your writing process.

Do you write only in the morning or at night?

What inspires you to write?

Are there certain songs that get you going?

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?

John Cicero

I'm not an author, but I am a writer and I have been writing for 23 years. Can I answer these questions or are they only for authors?

Absolutely. Please share with everyone as I personally feel whether a writer or author we all have certain techniques, inspirations, etc.. to get us going.

It's driven from our creative process. I think this will be a great forum for all of us to share our unique styles.

Okay, thanks John.

Here are my answers:

Do you write only in the morning or at night? I'm a head writer than a Word writer. I tend to do a huge percentage - like 98% of writing in my head, before I release the words on screen. So my writing takes place both day and night. I can write scenes for days, before I sit down at my computer to display the words in Word.

What inspires you to write? Writing is my talent. A certain theme can pop a story in my head. I am doing writing challenges with buddies of mine on two groups that I am on. When our theme is giving to us or even if we are still in the process of voting for a theme, if I like a theme, my mind will automatically start writing, even if that's not going to be our theme.

Listening to music, reading a book, watching TV/movie, being out doing things such as shopping, walking, etc. and of course talking to my fellow writing buddies can inspire me to write.

Are there certain songs that get you going? Gospel music. I'm a gospel listener.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?I don't outline.

Do you write only in the morning or at night? I usually write at night just because that's how my schedule works out but I'll sit down and write any time of day and like Arch, I think a lot of scenes out before I write them down while other times I write and things just come spur of the moment.

What inspires you to write? Anything from a conversation to watching something on television, reading, or just plain day dreaming. Sometimes I'll even think about stories based on a character I want to be in there because I like their name so I'll think of a story to fit.

Are there certain songs that get you going? As soon as I get really into a story I create a song playlist that fit scenes or the characters and I add on if I find more songs that hype me up for that story.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go? I've tried and tried to create outlines because I'll restart the same story ten different times, even if it stays the same or drastically changes but I never finish or stick to the outline.

Do you write only in the morning or at night?
I work during term times, so i TRY to get two or three hours in each evening Mon - Fri. Weekends and holidays, I would like to write seven or eight hours a day, but, of course, real life, family and other things do intervene. Even so, I average about four hours per day.

What inspires you to write?
Two unrelated things that spark an idea - perhaps an item on the news and part of an overheard conversation. Suddenly - synergy!

Are there certain songs that get you going? No. When I'm writing, I'm oblivious to anything around me.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?
I outline everything first, so I always know what I'm supposed to be writing. No writer's block. Of course, the thing does eventually take life and deviate wildly from the original. Stephen King tells me I shouldn't outline at all, just go with the flow. Sometimes, for short stories I will, but for books? Seems almost suicidal!

I tend to revise in the morning, write "new" at night. I don't plot (check my website for my "Plotting for Non-Plotters" system. Run screaming at the word "outline."

I have an iTunes playlist I use when writing, with a variety of selections.

I write because it's like breathing--a necessity.

Hi John,
Great questions...
I usually steal an hour right before the day job starts and right after it ends. Then on the weekends I try to spend a few hours each day writing. It helps me to set a word or page goal especially if I'm on a deadline.

I cannot listen to music and write. I could never do that as a teenager and study either. I need quiet.

I am a non-outliner. I do write the back cover first to give me a general idea and I only outline if I get stuck.

I have posted some writing tips on my blog on my website if you'd like to see them. Hopefully they will help you.
Kelly

www.kellyabellbooks.com

I'm not an author but I do write a lot. I hardly ever remember where my ideas come from; usually it's a combination of ideas that all collide and become one big idea. I get inspiration from random places, like in the shower, or from eavesdropping on random conversations, or when I'm trying to sleep. Music is also an inspiration for me; I could list all the songs/artists but it would take me ages! I'm a big music nerd. <3

Do you write only in the morning or at night?
I usually write more at night. For some reason I get more inspired between 11pm and 3am....

What inspires you to write?
Lately, just about anything. Music, reading... you name it.

Are there certain songs that get you going?
Yes! Usually anything by Linkin Park, Flyleaf, or Evanescence.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?
I usually have a few main events outlined, but for the most part I just dive into the chapters. I find it more exciting this way; as instance, when I was working on Bloodlust there was one of the chapters that when I got done writing it, I was like 'OMG! Did that just happen???' lol

Daniele wrote: "Are there certain songs that get you going?
Yes! Usually anything by Linkin Park, Flyleaf, or Evanescence. "

Those three are all influences for me too! :)

Do you write only in the morning or at night?
Morning, normally.

What inspires you to write?
An idea I can't ignore.

Are there certain songs that get you going?
Not really. All the music fades to the background when I'm in the zone.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?
I usually start with the back cover blurb, the characters, and the ending in mind. I usually have a crude outline that I update and modify as I go. I also keep a list of things I want to work into the story at some point.

I try to treat my writing as a day job - i.e. I usually work 9 till 6/7. Do we ever switch off though? If I'm watching TV in the evenings, I'm usually planning the next day's session.

The thought of paying bills/going on holiday, feeding dogs, etc. inspires me to write.

I can't write with any music on. I love music, but I need silence to write.

I've never outlined a book. I always swear I will, but I don't have the patience. As soon as I have a vague idea in my head, I have to run with it. I usually come to a frightening halt around chapter 6, but - so far - I've managed to get it back on track.

Do you write only in the morning or at night?

I write whenever I can. Up until about two months ago I ran a daycare so I got up at 4am, wrote until 6am, again at naptime and after my kids went to bed. Now I freelance, so I write articles from 6am to noon and my 'fun' writing is usually done late afternoon and night.

What inspires you to write?

Everything. Seriously. I find inspiration cleaning the toilet.

Are there certain songs that get you going?

I have to have music to write, which music depends on the project and ranges from country to pop to rock and everything in between. My latest WIP seems to prefer Lady Gaga.

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?

I used to dive in but discovered outlining and wouldn't do it any other way now. I've saved hours and hours of editing by taking a day to outline a brief structure. I don't get into characterization or any of that, just a loose outline.

Me, Renee?

Do you write only in the morning or night?
I used to do all my writing at night before I went to sleep, which is usually where I do all my reading. But now, I can pretty much write any time of day. I just need a computer in front of me and I'm ready :)

What inspires you to write? Everything around me. My books are character driven and modern stories influenced by my world. The people, the places, the news, everything...

Are there certain songs that get you going? I listen to lots of music, but never when I write. I prefer to write in complete silence.

Do you outline your book first?
Yes, for a novel I do. For short stories I usually just have an idea and dive in, creating the story as I go.
When writing a novel I have a list/plan of how I want the book to start, what will happen, major events, and how it will end. However, I find that I hardly ever stick to the plan as the creative process takes over and the characters lead the way...

John wrote: "To the authors of the group. Tell us some of your techniques through your writing process..."

General Process

I co-write dark fantasy / historical fiction / adventure novels with Heather Poinsett Dunbar, and we have developed a unique writing method. Our general process is that we will sit down to a meal, usually out, her with her notepad and me with my idea, I will see events in a particular scene play out in my head, and I will describe to Heather what I see, hear, and otherwise sense, all the while she writes in her notebook. Sometimes, she will have alternate ideas, or I will ask her about a character's motivations. We generally try to finish a scene with each outing.

Heather will then take her short-hand notes and, either through typing or via Dragon Speak, transcribe those notes into Word, though she also edits where needed and identifies where historical or mythological research is needed, which she also performs.

We will generally write organically without thought of chapters or timing. We might even go through ten scenes with one set of characters, knowing at some point, these scenes will be threaded with others.

After we have gone through a complete first pass of the manuscript, Heather begins her second pass, where she organizes scenes based on timing, fills in gaps, and conducts research - I help when new scenes need to be created, though sometimes I have to help her re-write earlier scenes because of developments we made later in the book. Once she is finished with the second pass, her third pass breaks the book into meaningful chapters based on scenes, plot, and page counts.

I won't go into editing and other pre-publication work, but I generally handle most of that effort.

Do you write only in the morning or at night?

Our joint writing is about 85% at night and 15% during the day. Heather's writing is about 65% night and 35% day.

What inspires you to write?

Heather had dreams many years ago about the basic story that evolved into our works, the myths concerning the creation of the Deargh Du. I was inspired to write about vampires in a way that hadn't been done before, or at least not to any great extent. We have both striven to create works that are accurate to the period to and the mythology as well as plausible, given the context that many of these characters are supernatural beings.

Are there certain songs that get you going?

When Heather does her magic, she uses different music depending on the setting and the mood. Here are a few she has used:

Omnia: Morrigan (Maiden, Mother, Crone of War)
Corvus Corax: Cantus Buranus II: Veritas Simplex (and various)
Dead Can Dance (various)
Vas / Niyaz / Azam Ali (various)
Lord of the Rings (all three soundtracks)
Battlestar Galactica (new)(soundtracks from all seasons)
Taiko Drums (unknown group)
Tibetan chants, bowls, etc.
Lorena McKinnet (various)
Clannad (various)
Maire Brennan (various)
Enya (various)

Do you outline your book first or do you just dive into the chapters allowing them to create as you go?

As I mentioned, our process is purely organic, though we have some idea of the start, the destination, and the journey before we begin, but we go where the story takes us.

Enjoy!

Christopher Dunbar

I simply write when the mood hits. I have pulled "all nighters" when the floodgates were opened; I have been typing like wildfire as the sun trekked from one end of the sky to the other; and I have made the emergency "house call" as ideas would pop into my head in the middle of the night, jostling me out of a sound sleep.

With my first thriller, K - I - L - L FM 100, the complete twist to the book came first, followed by the layout of the book- that being each chapter beginning with a certain song (the storyline centers around a radio station). So, basically the entire book was built around the twist and those songs- all was constructed from the core outward.

My second thriller, U-TURN KiLLuR (due out early 2011) was basically written out of my experience in scripting my first thriller. It puts a horrific twist on domestic life and responsibilities as the world crumbles around an author typing the time away while the sun perpetually blazes a trail from one end of the sky to the other, much as a shooting star.

And thank goodness for my BlackBerry! I have sent myself many script ideas for my stories through e-mail and/or text when I've been in the middle of nowhere and didn't want to lose an idea from a sudden brainstorm.

Teric Darken
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I write when I have time. But at night is when I am always the best. My preffered hours are from 10pm -2am when I can grab some inspiration from strong whiskey. I only outline ideas halfway through my novel. Other than that I dive in and try to live and breath the characters like they are real and my best friends that I've known for years. Outlining seems to structured as writing for me has to be a total creative process with no rules or rules that should be broken.

Ryan Adam Smith- Author, Below Sunlight

I during the school year write or edit at night because I can't focus on school anymore and I dont' feel bad about not doing homework. During breaks it is whenever I can and not have to deal with writers block. Sometimes I'm able to get some notes before I write sometimes its just winging it.
Ottilie Weber ~ End of the Line

Nina wrote: "... I have no problem cutting them out of the story. Of course, I will PASTE them into another document with all the other things I've cut in case I ever change my mind. But I have never felt that need afterward. ;)"

We do the same thing, that is cut out entire sections or even pages of text for what we feel are superfluous or obsolete scenes. We still keep that text in files backed up. Who knows... maybe someday, that aborted content might be worth something to somebody.

Occasionally, I re-read what we cut, though I don't think we have used any of it. It is interesting to think how the story would have been different had we kept the removed text.

Any, Nina, I thought I would share that with you.

Cheers!

Christopher Dunbar

BTW - John Cicero and I are doing this, but other authors don't seem to be. John and I are using the "add book/author" feature for our names, which links our name to our Goodreads author page, at the bottom of our posts. I wasn't sure if y'all knew you could do that or just didn't bother with it.

Nina wrote: "Oh, I didn't realize I could do that. I will try it now. :)

Nina Stone"

Yeah!!! You are most welcome. Cheers!

Christopher Dunbar

Okay, Arch, I'll try to take your questions one at a time.

1) WHEN? I write when the inspiration hits - doesn't matter the time of day - which can frustrate my husband and daughter. Although they have gotten used to the fact if I'm "in the zone" of either staying up late or getting up in the middle of the night. I've been known to write 8-10 hours straight with barely a break.

2) INSPIRES? Well, almost anything - I cannot not write. (double negative I know, but going without writing to me is like not breathing) But my YA fantasy was done at the request of my daughter. As soon as her friends heard about it, the project snowballed with their interest and questions. I learned a lot from the kids that translated into my stories.

3)MUSIC? Since I am a former Hollywood screenwriter turned author and write cinematically - I score my scenes. A good rousing heroic theme - say from John Williams - does wonders for an action scene. Dark, tense music for evil, romantic, etc.. Whatever mood I need - I select from a vast array of movie soundtracks. I never listen to songs with words - too distracting as I'm writing. My daughter helped in scoring each of the promotional videos and even wrote the 'theme' for the Guardians.

http://www.allonbooks.com

Hope that answers some of your questions.

I tend to write any chance I get but I do work out a lot of my writing in my head long before it's committed to paper. I can be inspired by absolutely anything - all my friends and family joke that they have to be careful what they say or it'll end up in a novel.
For my non-fiction work I do most of my research and writing at night, it's quieter and I can concentrate more. Even there though I diagram [my word for it] all my work - just a rough flow chart of major events and scenes and where they need to go and how to make the overall story flow.
I also pretty much always carry a note book to jot down any ideas that may occur to me when I'm out and about - use less than 2% but you never know :)

Good format Shawn, so I'm stealing. : )

WHEN: When I've had my first two cups of coffe and feel energized (or any time after that if inspired)

INSPIRED: Driving around down town Savannah always does it, especially is I see a cool place I want to include in the books.
If I ever get stuck, I take a hot bath in total darkness. I'm usually almost breaking a leg to get out and write down all the dialogue that comes to me.

MUSIC: Can't do it. I've tried.

ROUTINE: I usually have most of the book laid out before I start writing. Of course, more is always added or improved, or changed, but the writing goes so much faster if I know where I'm going.
I always have to burn a candle. I Know...odd.

Cheers! Whisper of a Witch

This is so funny. Most everyone here picked a time of day they preferred to write. For me, winter is my time to write. Summer is full of work. I tell my co-workers that we work from sunup to sundown because it's the guests' vacation, not ours. Of course there's a double meaning there because sunup in June is about 3am and sundown is after midnight and it never really gets dark at that. So, my writing gets shelved (mostly) until sometime in September when my life slows down again and I recover from my summer crushing chaos. However, there are times when I simply must write down an idea - I have a file full of them.

An outline? Mostly no, though I am working on one that requires one, more like a calendar of events that must happen at certain times, and the story carries on between and around these events. I like diving in and seeing where my character takes me, though I do generally have an end goal in mind.

Stealing (er, "borrowing") the format like Suza:

WHEN: I set my alarm for 3:30 (that's AM, people!), work out on the elliptical for 45 minutes (on a good day), grab a cup of coffee, then start in on writing and/or revising

WHERE: The basement of my house in Butte, Montana. All is quiet at that hour.

INSPIRED: For my current novel ("Fobbit," a dark comedy about soldiers on a Forward Operating Base in Baghdad), I had a whole year's-worth of inspiration. Much of the novel is based on what I wrote in my journal during my year-long deployment. Other than that, I find inspiration in small snatches of overheard conversation or glimpses of people behaving oddly.


MUSIC: Classical, strictly classical (which also includes film scores). As I sit at my computer, iTunes is randomly picking tracks and playing them through my computer speakers. Everything from Mozart to Ennio Morricone.

ROUTINE: Because I have a full-time job, I have to regulate myself to writing first thing in the morning. If I click onto the Internet before I start writing, all hope is lost and I usually spend the rest of the day in a blue funk, kicking myself for not sticking to my "routine."

David Abrams
The Quivering Pen blog: www.davidabramsbooks.blogspot.com

Wow! Maybe I should have copyrighted the format and made money. :) Of course, imitation is the highest form of flattery. :) So borrow - steal away.

I prefer to write in the morning, but have to juggle a full time job, so most of it takes place in the evening, and all weekend. I start writing the moment my fingers touch the keyboard (and the minute I finish goofing around on facebook and twitter). I don't outline, I never know what I'm going to write until I get in front of my laptop. I create scenes as I write them, never in advance.

David wrote: "MUSIC: Classical, strictly classical (which also includes film scores). As I sit at my computer, iTunes is randomly picking tracks and playing them through my computer speakers. Everything from Mozart to Ennio Morricone."

My two favorite composers of all time!

Jenny wrote: "I prefer to write in the morning, but have to juggle a full time job, so most of it takes place in the evening, and all weekend. I start writing the moment my fingers touch the keyboard (and the mi..."

Jenny, this is exactly how I write. No outline, no idea what's going to happen. I fly by the seat of my pants.

I like doing that sometimes, just letting the characters take over

I typically write early in the morning. My desk always has to be in front of a window, and I love writing while the sun rises or in the midst of a rain storm. I usually goes back and forth between writing in a notebook (first drafts of chapters I write by hand) and clicking away on my laptop. I've tried writing in the evening, but the results aren't worth it.... I find that I'm best off reading and thinking and bouncing ideas off my boyfriend in the evenings

Ex Lit Prof
www.the-reading-list.com

I prefer to write on a new manuscript first thing in the morning and I love the company of a couple finches in my office. Coffee seems to be the great inspiration to write, and I've made it a daily habit. (my family would tell you I get cranky when I've been away from a new manuscript for more than a couple of days).
I find music helps me more in the editing process, or when I'm driving, a song will spark something I can add into the book when I get back to my desk. I've been known to call the house and leave a voice mail reminder of my 'aha' moment in the car.

Regan
http://www.reganblack.com

Finches and coffee. The perfect start to a writing day!

The later it gets, the more creative I get. Night falls and I get busy, which is why I tend to produce more work in autumn/winter. For example, Maranatha was memorably begun on New Year's day, 2006, when the family were starting to doze off after dinner and I got sucked into a documentary about the holy spear of destiny...

Outlines get written as they go along - the more I write, the more I understand about what I'm writing and where it should go. My characters are too damn strong-willed to be so constrained by any pre-defined plot. It involves a lot of re-writes, editing and careful scrutiny to 'seed' all the events properly and keep continuity, as I also end up with lots of fragments which may or may not get stitched into the final patchwork.

I don't recommend this type of semi-improvised writing as it produces colossal headaches, yet it seems to work for me. And I do believe in the subconscious driving certain seemingly unrelated fragments together into what suddenly reveals itself to be a huge and glorious finale. It's always a strange feeling when a beautiful 'plan comes together' quite by accident...

I may play music of any kind before writing to set the mood, but I need silence when writing. Hence why I do a lot in bed, last thing at night.

C. wrote: "The later it gets, the more creative I get. Night falls and I get busy, which is why I tend to produce more work in autumn/winter. For example, Maranatha was memorably begun on New Y..."

I completely understand the patchwork process - and headaches that ensue, but I'm right there with you as the 'system' seems to work for me as well!
I love the surprises that come along as I work...

Glad to see I'm not alone in my quirky, seat-of-the-pants style of working!

C. wrote: "Glad to see I'm not alone in my quirky, seat-of-the-pants style of working!"

You're definitely not alone there, I'm another one who just let's the story flow and I'm often very surprised by the direction my characters take, usually pleasantly.

Tracey wrote: "C. wrote: "Glad to see I'm not alone in my quirky, seat-of-the-pants style of working!"

You're definitely not alone there, I'm another one who just let's the story flow and I'm often very surprise..."

Good to hear! it's probably a curse and a blessing - though a curse I'm willing to endure for the sake of creativity - having characters who decide what they do, and don't want to do!

In my last book, I had to wipe out a whole sequence (8-10 pages) when the two heroes downright refused to take part in the mayhem I'd thrown them into. No matter how much I tried to force it, I hit a brick wall, and when I retracted and reworked the action, suddenly it all flowed again. It almost felt as if they'd "gone in the huff" with me.

That's why I try not to plot too much before hand: no sufficiently detailed plot ever survives contact with my heroes for very long...

Me too C. I love it when a story gets a life of it's own.

I get a lot of inspiration for writing through shows on the history channel, discovery, and TLC. Also, I love different art and discovery type magazines and non-fiction type stories. I have a dis...well like we call it here differentabled son here and he inspires me easily with all the things he can do and how he never let's his condition stop him in anything he does. The wife and I think he should become a mythbuster when he gets older because of all the contraptions he builds around the house :O)

Anna wrote: "Me too C. I love it when a story gets a life of it's own."

I'll be perfectly honest - I cant think of anything more dull as a writer than composing a meticulous plot beforehand, complete in every detail, and then simply setting out to write exactly what you've already put down in the treatment. To me, that's not too dissimilar to 'painting by numbers' or joining the dots. If the plot was deep and twisting, then maybe it wouldn't be too bad - but a simple 'boy meets girl' would probably make me quit.

I'm sure it works for pro writers who have to keep churning out genre fiction to pay bills and keep publishers happy - find a formula, and stick with it - but I think that would take away a lot of the excitement, discovery and fun out of writing if that was to be me. I have 4 books planned in my current series of thrillers, and every one is completely different from the others to the point that I'm even considering making one a total epistlery novel, a la 'Dracula'.

Hi, Anna -- I write the same way you do, but some of the best and most creative thriller writers (James Ellroy, for example) do very, very detailed outlines. I recently ran guest posts by 14 writers on my blog, discussing the issue Plotting vs. Pantsing, and the great surprise was that I was surprised by the approach some of them took. I do think that most novelists (or, at least, those who weren't screenwriters first) work without a net -- but by no means all of them, and some of the very best outline.

Timothy wrote: "Hi, Anna -- I write the same way you do, but some of the best and most creative thriller writers (James Ellroy, for example) do very, very detailed outlines. I recently ran guest posts by 14 writer..."

I do believe in outlining to a point. I call it 'diagramming' the story where I create a basic flow-chart of the major events, characters, politics etc. I have a lot of detailed outlines regarding my world building but when I'm actually writing I tend to let the story unfold - so long as it sticks to the basic outline I'm happy.

I have a sort of mental map three or four scenes out, not written down, but I essentially regard it as something to top -- I'm constantly looking for a better alternative. The only real exception is when big chunks of material come to me. Then I write them in as few words as possible just so I don't forget them. But I never have the faintest idea where a story will end up,

I treat my story like a tapestry. And yeah, I've taken notes so people continue to look the way they look and places remain where they are the first time they show up. I also keep a list of character names so I don't repeat them without very good reason. But all in all, every person, every plot idea etc is a thread in my tapestry, and if something comes up later that needs a beginning earlier, it's time to go back and do a little reweaving. Outside of keeping track of such details, I have an end goal to reach and allow the character(s) to find their own way there while I keep throwing obstacles and problems at them. haha

That's an interesting metaphor because we talk about "threads" in a story, we talk about "spinning a story," we talk about "material." Even the word "text" is from the Latin texere, "to weave," which is also the root of "textile."

Having actually done tapestry many times I'd have to say that's a very appropriate metaphor - you basically know where you're going but the journey can/does surprise you.

haha - thanks Timothy and Tracy. I never really made those connections. And Tracy, though I've never done tapestry myself, I've done quite a few other assorted crafts all the way from macrame to small rugs to all manner of knitting and crocheting.