tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post597497974969723312..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: How a Story or Novel is WrittenLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-2210446658597922592020-06-26T22:31:53.248-04:002020-06-26T22:31:53.248-04:00Congrats on the Shamus! Both of 'em.
My writ...Congrats on the Shamus! Both of 'em.<br /><br />My writing has changed a lot over the years. My first novel just started with the idea of the USA needing a commonsense dictator and no more partisan politics. As I had ideas for some of the characters and scenes that might be fun, I'd write those scenes and fit 'em in later. And I put in multiple alternative endings in epilogues.<br /><br />After finishing four novels under my Jake Devlin pen name and another under a female pen name, I started writing short stories, mostly weird and as off-the-wall as I could make them. For example, I saw a little girl building a sand castle on a beach, and to make it weird, I made the sand castle haunted. Then I had to ask "By whom/what" and "What happens" to build the full story, about 1300 words. It's the usual questions: "What if?" and "What then?" and go from there. For another quick example: "Why can't DRAGONflies spit fire?" Wound up at about 830 words.<br /><br />Then I opened the BOULD Awards Anthology competition, got a few other writers to act as judges, and put out two annual editions so far, 2018 and 2019, and now we're accepting entries for the 2020 edition. The weirder, the better.jake devlinhttp://jakedevlin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-9876378050222616912020-06-26T21:29:50.967-04:002020-06-26T21:29:50.967-04:00I seem to spend a lot of shampoo-rinse-repeat #4. ...I seem to spend a lot of shampoo-rinse-repeat #4. I've heard Mickey Spillane never bothered to make an edit pass, but years later I came across a suggestion that he combined #3 and #4.<br /><br />Congratulations on the Shamus! Yeah!Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12485378328728045632020-06-26T21:15:02.690-04:002020-06-26T21:15:02.690-04:00O'Neil, I always enjoy reading about other aut...O'Neil, I always enjoy reading about other authors' processes for writing. I never outline, but I'm leaning toward doing more thinking before starting my next project. Inventing some characters, and their names, putting in a few plot points, and even deciding who the killer is before beginning. I've always left that until I'm about 3/4s of the way through, hoping to surprise both myself and the reader. Also, I only read over the last session's writing, tweak it, make corrections so they won't distract me when I finish the first draft and move until editing.Jan Christensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027877440748580764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30954249798212820832020-06-26T17:09:57.273-04:002020-06-26T17:09:57.273-04:00Thanks for the comments everyone and for the SHAMU...Thanks for the comments everyone and for the SHAMUS acknowledgement.<br />Paul and John - I couldn't do just one draft.<br />Steve - You're correct, there's no one way to do any of this.<br />RT - I'm a lot like you when it comes to short stories rewrite-edit from the beginning but I can't do that with novels. I do go back and read what I did earlier but have to work flat out to get through the first draft.<br />Eve - I think Hemingway said something like that as well.<br />Back to the SHAMUS. Steve, this is the second time one of my stories won the award. One story from AHMM and one from EQMM. Several of my novels were finalists but did not win. It is a wondeful award to win (and to be a finalist).O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-49977809734233014452020-06-26T10:46:48.815-04:002020-06-26T10:46:48.815-04:00Of course, there's always Red Smith's obse...Of course, there's always Red Smith's observation: “You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.”<br />Part of the reason I write so slowly is that I rewrite as I go along. That and I have a tendency to not always know who did what until about mid-way through. <br />Congrats on the Shamus Award! Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-38985289890863332142020-06-26T10:13:09.177-04:002020-06-26T10:13:09.177-04:00O'Neil, you're doing good on that Shamus A...O'Neil, you're doing good on that Shamus Award. Congrats !!!<br /><br />I'm one of those slow writers who combine Steps 3 & 4. Instead of writing straight through, I write until I stop, then when I come back to the story, I rewrite/edit from the beginning to where I left off. Then, I continue with writing the new part until I stop. By the time the process is finished, the first part of the story is usually pretty smooth. The downside is that the longer the story gets, the more time it takes to get to adding new words to the place last left. This method does get me back into the story though when it is time to add new words.R.T. Lawtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523486296396710227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-61302043905619317632020-06-26T08:37:16.531-04:002020-06-26T08:37:16.531-04:00Congrats on your new Shamus, O'Neil. How many ...Congrats on your new Shamus, O'Neil. How many is this?<br /><br />Excellent overview of how we write. There's no way to explain it completely because it's different for everyone. It's sort of like saying, "I do this and this, and then magic happens."<br /><br />Stay safe.<br />Steve Liskowhttp://www.steveliskow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-69892236117849935102020-06-26T08:26:25.086-04:002020-06-26T08:26:25.086-04:00Good summary of how to tell a story. I can't ...Good summary of how to tell a story. I can't even imagine not having to rewrite. My first drafts are always so bad even I hate to look at them. The rewriting is the fun part, for me.<br /><br />Yes, congrats again on the Shamus. What a great honor!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-82293825346063153722020-06-26T05:32:52.100-04:002020-06-26T05:32:52.100-04:00A good concise way of looking at what we do, O'...A good concise way of looking at what we do, O'Neil. And if Harlan Ellison could skip step 4 my hat's off to him. For me that's where everything happens really.<br /><br />And congratulations on your Shamus win!!!Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.com