Pants or No Pants
So, I’ve written two complete novels now and to be honest with you I had no idea what I was doing. I just decided I was going to be an author and took off like my ass was on fire. I think that now, having done it twice, I should probably learn a little about my craft. You know, see if I’m on the right track or not. In that regard, I have been listening to several podcasts devoted to writing and reading some books on the subject as well.
First off, let me say that the selection of podcasts devoted to the subject of writing is huge. Secondly, I’ll say that the majority of them suck ass! I have a lot of time at work doing boring paperwork and have tried out an huge number of them. I have found, maybe, four or five that I continue to listen to. The pretentious, boring and overall craptastic selection has led me to seriously consider starting my own damn podcast. I’ll call it ‘The Average Dude Writing Podcast’. It would basically be me talking about my journey into the writing world as a complete know nothing nobody. Having been a musician my whole life, I already have all the equipment to outfit a professional studio, so that would be the easy part. Listening to myself talk would be the hard part. Everyone sounds like a dork when you listen back to your own voice. My point is that I want a podcast that teaches me something while entertaining me at the same time. Is that such a hard thing to do? I have found a few good ones and I will list those at the end of this blog. Check them out.
Anyway, one of the things I have learned is that there are two kinds of writers: Outliners and Pantsers. Pantser refers to the act of flying by the seat of your pants. Full disclosure, Shiva’s Eye and Paws of the Sphinx were both written in full on pantser mode. I had an idea and I ran with it. There was a very loose framework in my mind but as far as writing something down like an outline… didn’t happen. These two books were very organic and to be honest, very enjoyable to write. Things happened as the story evolved and I created characters and events that furthered the plot on the fly. I knew where each story was going to start and I knew where I wanted them to end. What happened in between sprouted from my brain as I went.
Now let me tell you, if someone ever comes up to me on the street and calls me a pantser, I may throat punch them. The term sucks. It’s just stupid. I prefer the term discovery writer. Sounds better than something a school kid would do to another kid on the playground.
I have now started using some of the things that I have learned from listening to podcasts and reading and will be going back to do some tweaking and re-writing on my first two books. The beauty of not being published yet is that I can do that. I do, however, have a timetable in my head as far as getting my books out there so I will be doing this as I am writing the next book.
Next book, you say? What’s the next book?
Well… I am going back to the book ‘Prepared’ that I started immediately after finishing Shiva’s Eye. I put down 30+ thousand words about a kid who finds himself alone during a pandemic type disaster. I started this book three years before the current Covid crisis. Talk about missing the boat! I put this book away because of the emotional impact that it had on me as I wrote it. I felt that I wasn’t good enough to do the concept justice. I now feel that after 200,000+ words, I may have a better handle on the basics of writing. But here’s the rub, I’m going to outline this bastard! One of the great things about being a new author is that I don’t know what I don’t know. Do I write better if I outline? Do I enjoy writing as much if I outline? I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.
I have gone back and read what I originally put down on paper for ‘Prepared’. I needed to catch back up to the story I wrote over three years ago. Now, I am going to sit down and plot it out to it’s inevitable conclusion. I already feel that this is going to take some of the fun out of it but I don’t know. Feels a lot like homework. We will see.
Just so you know, I normally wear pants while I write but in the spirit of exploration, I will not be wearing pants as I write this next book. Your welcome!
Podcasts I like:
Writer Dojo - a relatively new podcast from authors Larry Correia and Steve Diamond. Correia is one of my favorite fiction writers and I am now discovering Steve’s stuff. These guys are trying to give us the basic nuts and bolts of writing and getting paid to do it. They both have personalities which leads to some entertaining banter. I can’t wait till Wednesdays to get the new episode.
Dead Robot’s Society - Hosted by Paul Elard Cooly and Terry Mixon. Not a lot of nuts and bolts stuff here but a great deal of entertaining discussions of larger concepts of writing, mostly pertaining to science fiction. These guys are mostly self published with some traditionally published stuff. FWI, too many fucking cats!
Author’s Stories - This is becoming one of my favorites because the host, Hank Garner, gets some great authors on his show. You get a good insight into what these professional writers are thinking when they write their books. He has been at it for so long that there is bound to be some authors he has interviewed that will peek your interest.
King Goat Writer’s Club - Ok, not a lot of learnin’ going on here but these dudes are just straight up fun to listen to. Nathan Hull and Sean Conway deliver humorous content every time. Each episode they challenge each other to write short stories about random subjects. These guys are Australian, so everything they say is funny due to the accent.