How I work and what you can expect (Patreon)

Welcome to the first post of the patron only blog feed. I want to use this opportunity to give you all a heads up on how I work and what progress you can expect on my main project, Richard Struggle — Book One [working title]. So, let’s get to it.

Separating plot from prose.

My writing process is continually evolving, but I’ve successfully used my current process for my last two works with only minor tweaking, so hopefully I’m starting to stabilise. I currently write all my projects in five separate steps. 

1. Plot lining

2. Scene descriptions

3. Story boarding

4. Prose

5. Editing

The fourth step is what people normally think of when they think of ‘writing.’ The first three steps are what people tend to call ‘outlining,’ although I personally dislike the term. I prefer to think of the first three steps as the real writing and the fourth step something more like directing — choosing  where to point the literary camera. By the time I’ve finished step three, I know exactly what the story is, who’s doing what when, and why. The story is already written. All that’s left is to turn it from…

Richard goes to the bar with Thomas, talks to Thomas about girls and prophecies, sees the guy from earlier getting blind drunk in a corner, then gets disgusted at himself. [Note: Thomas gives his own prophecy (see note below), gives suggestion on how Richard can pass the time on the island, drop info on Stripe.]

… into actual prose that reads well and puts a smile on the reader’s face. By the time I get to editing, there’s very little that actually needs changing, which is why I can finish the first draft of a 17,000 word piece of work that took me several weeks to write on Saturday and publish on Sunday.

What does all this mean?

It means that almost half my work is done before I even write a single line of prose. More than half the effort—the blood, sweat, and tears—comes up front. That’s where I’m currently at in the next Richard Struggle book. So understand that when I say I haven’t written a single line of prose, that doesn’t mean I haven’t started work yet.

I am in fact, half way through step three.

I currently have approximately 30,000 word equivalents of storyboarding, out of a goal of 60,000 word equivalents. The actual book will probably be longer. My last piece of work was storyboarded at 10,000 words after all, but mutated into a 17,000 word monster by the time I’d finished.

That’s a thing that tends to happen.

Once we’re done story boarding, we’ll move into prose, which will include chapter drafts for rare, epic, and legendary patrons. (Heads up: After you’ve been through it, I’m planning to release the first chapter to the mailing list to co-inside with the announcement of the Patreon program.) 

I’ll keep you posted on progress.

— J.M. Coombs (LeadVonE)