Kambrie Williams
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hey Michael! I have a question regarding you being an author and your writing technique. I just wanted to ask about how you form outlines for your work or what you write before you actually start writing your novels. When you first get an idea for a story or a character or a world, what do you usually do? Also I love your books and am excited to catch up on the legends of the first empire series!
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey Kambrie,
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
More Answered Questions
Joe Hull
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Have you read the Mistborn Trilogy? Because I found some of the terms from the trilogy in Age of Myth.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Mar 12, 2019 07:28AM