40: My Process
12/28/2012
Well, I finished Lost in the Darkness two days ago. It was a good feeling. The last scene was probably the best one. I reread the whole chapter in one sitting and was dismayed by the inconsistency in quality between all ten scenes. Some were okay, a couple were good, and a couple were terrible. The first scene was the worst.
So, I spent the last two days editing each scene, slashing and cutting huge segments from even the okay ones. And now that I’m transcribing this mess yet again, I’m giving each scene a last onceover before copying them into a legible format.
Scene-one took the biggest hit for deletions, but I also decided to add the concept of the Hira right away. Originally, I had planned to have it explained later by Makoa that what Diallo encountered was a Hira.
I only have this first scene finalized now, but I hope to have the whole chapter transcribed by the end of the year – in three days. It’s a lot of writing, but possible.
I’m not sure how unusual my writing process is, but it goes something like this: I review my scene outline, making sure I have all the elements straight in my head that I’ll need for the scene. Then I picture a beginning for the scene in a way and in a location I hadn’t imagined before, giving it a fresh start for me. Like with the last scene of Lost in the Darkness, I had no idea Kanunga would be descending the amori tree until I sat down to write it. All I knew was that he would be delivering Mosai’s remains to Diallo.
So, having a new and interesting point of entry into the scene, I go over the visuals in my mind and pinpoint the aspects that are most striking. I also think in terms of mood – what is the tone I’m looking for with this scene? I play it in my head like a movie, so when I go to write it, I can just describe what I see.
But before I start the actual writing, I start by compiling a couple of sheets of notes to work from, consisting of all the information I may need. In my ninth scene I had all the ritualistic details for Mosai’s funeral and the harvesting of his organs – all the spiritual symbolism.
Despite these notes and the detailed scene outline, the story must surprise me. It must expand in unexpected directions, or it dies. My scene outline for Lost in the Darkness consisted of only six scenes, but it ended up with ten. Scene two, with Makoa and Mosai, came about as I saw a need for it following the first scene. The scene with Makoa following the spoor was also not originally scripted. The appearance of the bachwezi, that came out of that, was never even considered for this chapter until I came to it.
Inspiration hits. I reach a point where I feel I need something more than what I planned, and ideas come. Often it comes because I loathe exposition that goes on and on, so I use dialogue to keep my own interest. And deciding to just insert dialogue somewhere I hadn’t planned on, changes everything.
Once I got all my notes compiled, I start the actual writing on scratch paper, never brand-new writing paper. For one thing, it would be a waste, because all my first drafts get flushed down the toilet and paper is too expensive. I keep a stack of scratch paper just for this purpose – any papers that come my way. This also relieves some of the burden of writing great and wonderful pros, because I’m just scribbling on scratch paper. I can write gibberish without feeling bad. This frees me to be more creative with nothing to lose – not even paper.
As I begin to write I usually go straight for a good visual to suck me into it. And my language usage is important to me right from the start. The language fuels the visuals and the mood, so I try to imagine how my favorite authors might phrase each sentence. The first line I write sets the tone, but it invariably gets edited heavily before I move on to the second sentence. With all my chicken scratches and crossed out words, my first drafts are completely unreadable by anyone but myself.
On average, I’d say it takes me a half-hour and several drafts to write a paragraph that is useable. If it looks okay, I copy it to a regular sheet of paper, often making last minute adjustments as I do.
I also keep a collection of phrases that have occurred to me that I liked and saved. Phrases like, “Dawn was waiting for him on the far bank of night.” I keep a few pages of these nuggets near at hand to help begin or end things with panache, and to give me a jump start when I get stuck. But these lines are seasoning, not the meat. Most of what I write comes from context.
Anyway…
I may have one to three drafts on scratch paper before transferring my writing to notebook paper. Then once I’m done with the whole chapter, I go back over it and edit the hell out of those 30-50 pages. Then rewrite it all one last time before that becomes my official first draft (ostensibly). This draft is then completed with an epigraph and illustration for the chapter’s title page.
And there it is. Until I feel it needs to be reworked, yet again.
Present-Day Reflection
7/4/2026
My process hasn’t changed much since then. The main difference now is that I can afford to waste notebook paper and I have a computer. So, these days my process begins on notebook paper and ends on the computer.
I’m still a firm believer in writing the first draft with pen and paper rather than on the computer. Mainly because writing long-hand triggers a different part of my brain than typing. Writing long-hand is like drawing, as I shape the letters with my pen. And since I’m a visual writer, I want to tap into those visual parts of my brain.
Whether this is true or not, it’s the theory I’m going with.
Typing is also faster for me than writing by hand, and it helps me slow down and be more mindful with my first drafts. It’s also too easy to delete and edit as I go on a computer, which distracts me from what I want a first draft to be focused on. When typing, it happens all too often that my fingers get into a flow, and things just rush out in far different way than when I write with pen and paper.
In the end, it’s just a matter of taste.
