Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

Respect the Process

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Every once in a while, I get tripped up. Be it with a draft, during the editing process, or during my long-term planning, I run into the notion to change things up–to break the system I’ve been using and try something new. What have I learned during these fits of insanity? You have to respect the process!

What the hell are you talking about, Lou?

Every writer has quirks. They have systems in place to keep them working while also making sure they can function in society. This might be a dedicated writing time during the day or a specific set of tasks that help them create.

This is their process.

You balk, but everyone has one. It might something as simple as a quiet walk before putting words on the page. Maybe it is a specific spot in the house or the playlist on your phone. Something has to be in place for you to work and messing with that upsets the entire balance.

So why mess with it?

The thing about the process is that it can evolve. We all change. So should our writing habits. Mine certainly have over time.

When I started this gig, I used to write a book non-linearly. Any chapter I had locked in my brain was my next challenge and damn the consequences. It worked for me. For a long time.

This past year, I found that method of drafting IMPOSSIBLE. The details slipped away or there was an element that didn’t feel right, so the editing process became much more crucial to removing any inconsistencies.

Suddenly, putting a book together from start to finish made sense. It clicked in a way it never had before. So the process had to evolve with it.

When the tweaks go too far…

Evolving with your process is crucial to bettering yourself as a writer. I won’t deny that. I absolutely love the drafts on my last two novels, compared to my personal feelings on a number of earlier releases. (Take that as you will. I am a self-loathing curmudgeon who will never live up to his own expectations.)

But does that mean the entire process should change as well?

It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. I write in a very strange fashion. From full outline to script to draft to edit, there is a lot of fleshing out along the way.

That’s only for one book. There’s also series developing.

This month, I’m scripting the final Greystone books. Halfway through the readthrough on Book 8, I started wondering if I was foolish not to jump right into the draft. I did it that way for 6 and 7, so why not 8?

It’s still tripping me up, and I’m doubting the path forward. It happens more often than I would like. I am always curious to know if I would be better served writing DSA Season Three instead of closing out Greystone, or if a new series is what my readers are craving.

Battles like these disrupt the process. Internal questioning halts the flow. So what can you do?

Respect the process.

You have to respect the process. The questions don’t matter in the long run. They are the doubts that will always be there, and they have their place, but not when it comes to creation.

Work on one book all the way through if that’s how you see it forming in your mind. Develop an entire series before jumping into the first installment if you think that’s how you’ll make for a more compelling read.

Outline, script, draft and edit if it works best for you.

No matter how you tackle the project, respect the process you’ve developed. It’s served you well and there is a reason behind it. Understand that reason, evolve it as you grow, and write.

For me, that means pushing forward with the scripts. I want to make these last three books absolutely satisfying for long-time readers. Maintaining that flow, pushing the conflict and growing the tension, will serve to make the final read all the better.

Am I wrong? Could be. But I respect the process well enough to know that in the end, either through the draft or the edit, the books will be the best I have to offer.

Happy reading.

Process Junkies

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I love talking about the writing process. To me, it is the most fascinating aspect of the whole endeavor. Sometimes I can go entire days thinking about nothing else but the work that goes into the actual work. That might just be me, but I wanted to share how my process has evolved over the years as well as where I would like to improve going forward.

Writing process

I still follow the same steps I have since the beginning.

  1. Outline – a chapter by chapter breakdown of the novel
  2. Dialogue – a hand-written version of the character’s conversations throughout the novel
  3. Script – the mashing of the outline with the dialogue to produce a beat by beat spine for the novel
  4. Draft – the actual writing of the book, using the script as a guide
  5. Edit – turning my jumble of words into something impactful and coherent

This works for me. I’ve thought about dropping the dialogue and script phase to increase my speed. On the whole, though, I don’t think it would add anything other than more editing steps down the road. The dialogue and script portions of the process tend to weed out a number of soft points in the outline. They also help flesh out subplots and smaller character roles by giving them some time to breathe.

I like to think of each step as its own level of editing as well. It really is. By looking through the narrative multiple times during the writing process, everything by the end is a million times more thought out than it was at the start. (I hope…)

Changes to the writing process

It’s funny to think about, but I have noticed a need to work from beginning to end more and more. At the start, I always talked about being able to jump in at any story point and go. This might mean following a specific character through a novel (or season) or a subplot or just a plot point.

Lately, though, whether it is through outlining, scripting, or drafting I have started at the beginning and worked my way through to the climax more and more.

I don’t know why. Maybe it is my tired dad brain telling me to keep things simple. Maybe I have a better grasp on the narrative as a whole so I no longer need to attack it willy-nilly. (Sure, let’s go with that… but it’s probably tired dad brain…)

The staggered approach

Once upon a time, in the golden days of writing, I typically followed my process from start to finish with a book. I don’t remember the last time I did this.

DSA Season Two was outlined at the end of 2018. It was scripted in 2020 and drafted in 2021. Edits took over the last five months of 2022 and it is finally seeing the light of day in September of 2023. That’s a ridiculous process with way too many distractions stuffed in between.

Greystone almost followed suit. I outlined the back half of the series in 2020. Insane, right? I am taking my time to put each book together separate from the rest for the rest of the process. No scripting the whole thing (though I debated doing this…), drafting, and then editing. Each book gets the time it needs, and then the additional details will come at the end if necessary.

Hopefully…

Continued evolution

Every book is different than the last. I continue to find that the most fascinating point of the entire exercise. I certainly never get bored. There is always something new to figure out, or a new revelation on the process to integrate into the steps to make the best book possible.

Linear Novel Writing

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Process, to me, is one of the most fascinating aspects of writing. Everyone does it differently. Everyone has their quirks, their methods, and their unique steps from start to finish. I’ve talked about my own in the past. When tackling a book, I never approach it from a linear perspective. I always hop around, taking out pieces at a time until the work is done. It has its benefits, for sure. But for my latest project I decided to try a linear novel writing approach.

Linear Novel Writing

I find it funny that this approach seems so radical in my eyes. I’ve just never been able to wrap my head around starting from the beginning and working through a piece all the way to the end. Never.

For me, cranking out the scenes that are deeply embedded in my mind first, and then jumping to the next and the next until the piece is done has always been more natural.

But I thought I would try it out with DSA: Season Two, Book Four. Here’s what I learned:

Cleaner Arcs

Character arcs were the first aspect that drew me to this different approach. I wanted to build a cleaner arc for my characters. Better defined might be another way to say this. What I mean is, how the character changes over the course of the book. What is unique at the beginning that evolves as the situation arises, and how is it different after the climax of the tale?

Hopping around always helped me define these arcs on the fly. They evolved as I wrote, rather than having them in place from the beginning. By starting with Chapter 1 rather than Chapter 31 it was my hope that the character’s evolution would be more natural (cleaner) throughout. Was it a success? Partly. I’d say the same issues arose that typically do. Over the span of weeks some things were lost and will need to be picked back up, refined or recalibrated during the editing process.

For the most part, however, I would say it definitely helped keep the action at the forefront and the characters on a clear path.

Less repetition

Yes. This is a problem I have. I know it, and I am working on it. See? This is me working on it.

By hopping around, or starting with later moments in the story, sometimes I find myself providing a recap or mentioning something from a previous book or incident that has been mentioned multiple times already. I noticed this recently with DSA when Ben mentions Emily Wright’s disappearance. It’s important, and of course would be on his mind, but the reader is clearly aware of the incident and doesn’t have to hear about it constantly.

By starting from the beginning, through linear novel writing, I was able to weed out the repetition and focus only on the necessary details.

Trouble spots

One of the main cons I found with linear novel writing was getting tripped up a lot easier during the draft. By hopping around, there was always a chapter I was firmly invested in and ready to put on the page. Starting at the beginning, however, you have to write what comes next. You have to be in that moment and follow it through to the end.

This can be especially irksome when you really want to hit up an action scene and find yourself stuck in exposition mode. Could it be a flaw in the pacing itself? Possibly. But sometimes it’s just where your headspace is at the time, so the constant dialogue wears you down.

Or maybe you don’t have the setting yet. There is an image brewing, but hasn’t percolated in your mind when you get to that scene. Too bad. It’s up next, and you have to write it!

That was a tough lesson to learn.

Will I do it again?

Probably. It was tough. Writing should be tough! Challenging the process opens doors to new solutions, and new methods of telling stories. No writer should close themselves off, or be too set in their ways. It stymies the process, while also stripping the creativity from the work.

Evolve or die. Start at the beginning, or jump around. Find the method that works, then change it up to see if you can find something even better.

Process should always be growing.

Catering to Old Fans or Reaching New Readers?

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There comes a time during the writing process where you have to take a step back and figure out exactly who your target audience is for this story. Every writer does it. Everyone pulls apart their book, script, short story, etc. and tries to determine who in their right mind will be reading this.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to love my Greystone readers. They are a stalwart bunch and they keep me inspired to continue with the series. When it came to closing out Hammer and Anvil, though, I suddenly hit a roadblock because of those readers.

Hammer and Anvil is meant to be the first in a new trilogy of stories. One that uses pre-existing information/lore to rebuild its world for a new audience. So who is it meant for exactly? Is it meant to cater to the old guard with nods to stories that take place later in the timeline? Or is it for new readers as it is the first book in a series?

And so the debate begins!

new readersI put it off as long as I could. It wasn’t until I was about halfway through the draft that I hit upon the heavy exposition chapters of the book. That’s pretty standard for me. Always taking the easier path to feel my way into a story. Action pieces. Dialogue chapters. Easy stuff.

But with the exposition came the realization that I needed to find an answer and quick. Soriya’s first appearance in the story is in chapter 2. The Greystone puts in an appearance as well. But new readers don’t know anything about them, do they? They don’t know what the stone is or how it works or even who this woman is who is wielding it. They would be lost without some information.

Old readers already hold that knowledge. Exposition at this point would be boring to them, having read through possibly 5 adventures with Soriya already.

So who wins here? Does one fanbase trump the other?

I started having this back and forth during the drafting phase and then again through the editing process.

Changes made to reach new readers

Exposition won out. There are nice touchstones from the other books in terms of setting up certain environments, but the desire for new readers to be able to dive into this novel was more important in the long run.

I went back and punched up the background for each player introduced. I tried to read things with fresh eyes and really build everyone’s role as well as the city itself. The story has definitely grown in the telling and I think it is stronger because of it.

This is not to say old fans will be bored. I’ve hit a number of different moments that connect readers to stories from the main series. Loren’s cigarette addiction. His sleeping on the couch. The Franklin Center. A Circle of Shadows. And more. Plenty of nods for readers to recognize while not confusing newbies in the process.

New challenges with each new project

It’s amazing to think about. When I set out to write Hammer and Anvil it was meant to be for newsletter subscribers. When it grew, so did my expectations for the final product. That included making a cohesive narrative, it meant finding a bridge from the first book to the third, and it came with the new challenge of finding new readers while also capturing the zeal of the ones who have stood by the series from the start.

Not an easy task. But one I’ve been excited in exploring over the last few weeks.

I think you’re in for a fun ride no matter how much experience you have with Greystone.

Thanks for reading.

Handling Criticism

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Handling criticism is crucial to success in everything we do. I hate to admit that. Opinions are a fact of life and everyone (unfortunately) has them – and enjoys sharing them.

How we handle criticism is the difference between a solitary career of writing missives no one wants to read or enjoys reading and a successful life as an author.

Giving Criticism

The Write Life had an amazing article on this subject recently. I’ll try not to overlap it too heavily but all stems from the same place:

Being constructive and not overbearing.

There are two ways to look at giving feedback: Your way. And the author’s way.

Not everything you see is the way the world works. Especially when it is the author’s world and we are simply guests to their narrative.

My uncle once made a comment to me about a book he was reading. He believed the author was incorrect with his conclusion because my uncle would never have followed the chain of events as described. But my uncle was not the main characters, and while some acts defy belief and SHOULD be questioned, most follow the rules set up either through character or plot.

Questioning the underlying reason for those rules is where constructive criticism comes to play.

I recently attended a writers retreat where this was put to the test. I constantly worry that my comments won’t help another author strengthen their work – as I’m sure most people do when they are asked for feedback. But in one particular case I believe I did as the right question.

It had to do with a character’s motivation. For twenty pages we followed this man as he condemned the world around him, choosing to live an isolated life. Then suddenly, when confronted with a woman being assaulted in an alley this same character comes to her aid.

By questioning that I was able to offer the author insight into not necessarily a flaw in the storytelling but an omission needed to explain the actions of the main character.

That was helpful. That was constructive.

Offering solutions

The question is a good first step but taking it further with options to strengthen the work is always welcome. Opening up possibilities gives an author avenues of exploration.

Will they be accepted and adopted? Maybe. But that isn’t the point. Don’t be upset when a change you suggested seems ignored. You don’t see the whole picture as the author would, but offering them that choice, showing them a different path to the same point might spark a third idea that is stronger than anything discussed.

It isn’t about stroking your ego. It’s about making the work the best it can be.

Handling criticism

The other end of the equation is handling criticism offered. May it be other authors, your readers, or your dear old mother, learning how to listen to the questions being asked about your pride and joy manuscript is key to its final success.

Arguments are bound to happen. But understanding the question is the first step to seeing potential pitfalls of your narrative. Beyond grammar, beyond your love of the semi-colon, it is about story logic, character motivation or their overall arc.

Everything is fair game when asking for reader feedback.

At the retreat I shared a piece I am hoping to draft next year. In the opening scene a female officer is arrested under suspicion of murder. The cops who arrest her are incredibly harsh at their handling of the situation, something that struck my fellow authors as odd.

And they were right.

I might have known where the story was heading and why it made sense to me, but as a new reader this pulled them right out of the scene. By asking that question I know I need to return to that exchange and rework the dialogue or the situation as a whole.

To make the work better.

What we all want with our work.

Criticism is necessary and should always be looked at as a benefit not the slap in the face it might feel like at the time. I write this as much for myself as for you, as I find it to be one of the most difficult aspects of the writing process.

And absolutely one of the most important.

Thanks for reading.

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