Four Secrets to my Writing Process

Last Thursday my friend Lauren Sapala tagged me in a blog hop wherein I reveal 4 secrets to my writing process, and then tag a few people I follow to continue the hop. If you have been a follower of my blog for any time I am not sure how secret any of these answers are, but here it goes…

What are you working on?

I am currently working on a bunch of different things at the moment. First: I am in the process of finishing up my latest novel Old Broken Road which is coming out soon. Really excited about it. It continues the story setup in The Stars Were Right but also works as a stand alone book. I’m also in the middle of writing the third in that same series, keeping that pretty close to my chest for now. Finally I’m spending some time working on a new near future sci-fi currently being written under the working title Deep. Clearly, I’m a busy guy.

How does your work differ from others in the genre?

Most of my work I write is cross genre. So if you want to read something different, read my books. I write new weird, but it could also be described as urban fantasy or even post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I really strive to write prose that is easy and approachable. I like rich description woven into the story so I try to avoid info dumps and as a result my books are often fast paced, fun, easy reads. My influences are writers like H.P. Lovecraft, China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, Mark Twain, and Cormac McCarthy.

Why do you write what you write?

I like to write what I want to read. I write genre fiction but I get quickly bored with generic settings. I’m fascinated by crossover: books, film, television that can be firmly one thing and also something else. I think there’s a lot of room to explore those gray spaces that often fall through the cracks or are ignored.

How does your writing process work?

It’s going to be really hard to fit this into one small response, but I’ll try…

First: I write every damn day. Sometimes it’s hard, most of the time it’s sloppy, often it’s not a lot, but I still do it. I think that discipline is very important to success. I’m a planner but I am not as strict as I once was, so these days my outlines are fluid. I follow them until I see something that doesn’t work and I’m willing to make adjustments. I’m also not afraid to throw away work. Failure is a part of success, if something’s not working: cut it.

Second, and equally as important: I make it a point not to get hung up in what distracts me. Often aspiring writers spend too much time navel gazing and not enough time working on their craft. It’s a temptation for everyone in every creative field faces and I have forced myself to not get caught up in that and I try to channel that energy into my work. Here’s the best writing advice I can give anyone: go write.

The Hop

Now the torch must be passed. What’s funny is this was a tough one for me since a lot of the folks I would have linked have already filled out this hop! Anyway, here’s four others I would recommend checking out:

Drew Gerken
Drew is an aspiring writer that often writes really deep introspective blog posts on his process. He’s been documenting his journey as he goes along. Really good stuff. I recommend checking him out. I can’t wait to read what he produces.

Chuck Wendig
Chuck is the irreverent and often potty-mouthed blogger behind terribleminds. His advice is honest and candid and he doesn’t candy coat anything. Something I appreciate.

Dean Wesley Smith
For the last year Smith has been blogging about writing in his series Writing in Public. It’s basically a year-long version of this hop. He goes into a lot of details and explains everything from his work to his process to his schedule.

Hugh Howey
The current king of indie writing also keeps a great blog where he talks about everything from writing to publishing. Very much worth a read.