Hello and welcome to this episode of Charlie’s Chat: the slow progression of insanity we all know is coming, but ignore with all our strength. I’m your host, Charlie Thomas, and on today’s show, we’ve got a few topics planned.
Right, so first off, how I plan out my days might just have to be altered. I was finally able to start working on my books from my phone so I could take my work with me — so long as there’s WiFi — and not lug around my laptop and risk the destruction of my babies. I initially thought I’d hate it — and where drafting’s concerned, I do — but after the first week, I must say, editing from my phone has become my preferred device to edit on.
Usually my days would begin with a walk for a few hours to get the blood pumping and prevent my hours of sitting to give me blood clots. I’d plan out the work I needed to get done that day and project into the week so I could mentally prepare myself, and then I’d watch a little YouTube, some news, and check out the socials. After reaching 10k steps, and only then, I’d sit down and start working on my stuff — drafting, editing, plotting, worldbuilding, marketing on my socials or here on my blog, whatever.
The thing with having access to all that on my phone, means I can start three hours earlier while I’m on my walk and be done with my editing goals for the day before I’d usually sit down to start.
This has revolutionized my work. It means that I can get more than twice the work done in a day than before — edit on my walk, work on other projects when I actually sit, or I can work solely on my marketing, or on character charts for future stories, or working out plotholes, finishing conlangs, whatever I so desire. It’s liberating . . . but, in classic human fashion, there are too many options at hand at once and it’s leading me to doing less. I don’t like that.
Hence, my schedule needs tweaking. I have yet to actually plan out a new schedule, but I only just decided to do this this morning, so give me a hot minute to think this out, y’all haha. This probably means that every day will be dedicated to drafting something in one form or another — so the first three days are for drafting one project, then the next three days will see those edited in the morning while other projects get written afterward. It would increase my productivity and, despite sounding like doubling the work, it shouldn’t feel like too much more work.
Mind you, I’m basing that entirely off an ideal, unpracticed image in my head, so it very well could feel like twice the work. But I won’t know until I try, so I’m giving it shot.
In other news, two major things to come from the extra time by working on my phone has lead to some exciting progress. Firstly, I think I may have a title for Project Murder House — it may not remain the title i put on the cover when it’s published, but it feels good as a working title. So, may I introduce y’all — with no small amount of pride — to Project Murder House revamped: Echoes in Reed House.
Like I said, I don’t know if this the final title that’ll see it through to the published cover, but it just feels right — it makes sense in context, it aligns to content in the book, it’s based on a reoccurring element of the story that might as well be the thing that launches the protagonist into his plot. And, not to mention, I like it.
Secondly, but just as exciting (for me at least) I’ve been fleshing out the world, history, and characters of a story that’s sat in the back of my head for a while. It’s not something I’m prepared to write at the moment, nor something I’ll allow myself to write — too many spoilers for my shared universe — but it’s good to do the leg work now so I can pick it up and start writing when I’m ready. Although, I may have to start drawing with this one, too.
I was struck by inspiration years ago when I was browsing Deviantart and stumbled onto an artist called Reykat — give them a look, their style’s amazing and content is interesting (it sent me into story building mode, so maybe it’ll inspire you, too.) I could see characters and events so clearly in my head, made things so distinct and visually appealing to me, that I knew I couldn’t scrap the idea — so I didn’t. However, it wasn’t until this year that I’ve toyed with the idea of a heavily illustrated book, or possibly a graphic novel to communicate the visuals in my head with precision, which words may fail to convey. But I’m nowhere near the skill level required to create a graphic novel, so that’ll either mean I need to practice my art, or look into hiring a professional artist. Although, with the popularity of webcomics, maybe I could work with an artist to create my vision there and publish it later?
Who can say?
But, speaking of new stories to consider for the future, I can’t help but think of what story I’m going to write next when Echoes in Reed House is finished . . . and I have no idea. So, let’s talk about that.
(DISCLAIMER, I have no idea what works for your process — I can only tell ya what generally works for me and my process thus far — so take this with a grain of salt.) Alright, picture this; you’re nearing the end of drafting a project and you need to start considering what you’re working on next. You’ve got some ideas written down — maybe even a few you’ve fleshed out a little because it was gnawing at your head — and nothing new springing to mind (which is fine and normal, by the way) so you look through them. But, there’s a problem — you love every single idea equally.
Here’s where we, as creatives, need to remember that if we’re trying to sell what we’re making, we’re not only artists making something we love for the heck of it — we’re entrepreneurs, running our own business as boss and factory line, and thus we must act the part. So, switch brains from “artist who loves all their children equally” to “business owner who needs to hurt feelings to meet the bottom line.”
Separate your ideas. What categories you choose is ultimately up to you, but I divide mine twofold — how complete is the idea (is it a premise, just a world, a collection of scenes, is there a plot?) and how much am I drawn to the idea. For the former, this is a practical decision. The less work I have to do to get another project going, the better — there’s plenty of time between now and the end of the new project to work on developing existing ideas in the background, but the project that’s consumed you for months is going to be done in three weeks and I need The New Hot Thing, asap. For the latter, this an artistic decision that has practical ramifications. The more I love the idea, the more it revs my engine and sends me barreling down the plot at a million mph, the more effort I put in, the more attention to detail I give — it’s all connected. And, with all that, the story’s better for it — readers can tell how much a writer loved a project by how much care and effort went into it. Like with food, books written with love will always be better than not.
Once you’ve decided which project you’ll work on after the final word’s written in the old project (for now. C’mon, y’all know you’re coming back to it a hundred more times), assess what needs to be added to make it a story. If you have a plot idea with a general setting and an amorphous blob of a cast, then develop what’s there and grow it — see where it takes you. You may start out with a contemporary that has three main characters centering around a love triangle in a small town when a bad-boy comes to town claiming to be a long-lost relative, and end with a sci-fi trilogy surrounding a cast of twenty, spread across planets as three characters fight to reunite and help the long-lost, rightful heir to the galactic empire seize control away from his his dead father’s former bestfriend. Plant a seed and see what it becomes. But whatever your idea’s lacking — plot, setting, characters, themes, character arcs, etc. — work on adding one and the rest should come naturally because every element of a story, like in real life, is connected to every other in ways we wouldn’t expect.
Got all your parts figured out? Think you have everything? Good. Now plot the daggum thing! Write down everything that happens to/by every character so long as it’s relevant, even if it doesn’t have page-time — the author needs to be as close to omniscient with regards to their story as possible. Organize that stuff. Decide what you want to be in the book. Divy it all into chapter content. And do the writer thing.
Now, all that will only apply to plotters, but I am one, so sue me. To all the pantsers out there, I know you hate it, but a little plotting, even if it’s just a basic outline, can help keep you from writing a 900k word tome that no one will read. Regardless of your writing style, that’s how I recommend going about choosing your next book. Follow it, or don’t — I’m not your mom or personal assistant. You’re capable of making your own choices :D
Alright y’all, I hope you enjoyed this post, I hope you found it a little helpful — heck, I hope you found it hahaha. See y’all later! Bye!