The Writing Process with Paul Barrett
Being the humble guy that I am, I’ve never been very good at self-promotion. Job interviews were always fun. “What have you done?” the interviewer would ask. “Stuff,” I’d say, while sort of waving my hand toward my resume. That’s probably why I ended up in the film business for a living. There, your work speaks for itself, and if other people like what you do or say good things about you, you keep getting work. Then you don’t have to brag on yourself, you have people to do it for you. Sort of like self-generating publicity agents.
But now that I’ve got a book coming out, I’m apparently going to have to do a little horn tooting of my own. The fine folks at Fiery Seas said “you have to start generating some publicity.” I thought about refusing, but then realized they would doubtless punish me by throwing me into the gigantic burning lake they have at their offices. (Note, I have never actually seen this flame-soaked lagoon, but it must exist, or they wouldn’t have named themselves Fiery Seas Publishing.)
I briefly considered paraphrasing Marshawn Lynch and typing “I’m only doing this so I get my book published” a hundred times, but suspected that would merit a visit from publishing ninjas wielding rabid weasels. (Again, I have no idea if these actually exist, but why wouldn’t they?)
Instead, I will strive to be a good little penmonkey (special thanks to author Chuck Wendig for coming up with that moniker) and do the dance my publishing masters demand. The song I must sing this week: What is my writing process?
Slow is what my writing process is. I have author friends who regularly brag about pouring out five and six thousand words a day. I’m happy if I get a thousand. If I get two thousand, dancing ensues. If by some miracle, I manage three thousand (and that has occasionally happened) it’s cause for a celebratory dinner and a bottle of liquor.
It goes something like this. I sit down, screen in front of me, possibly blank, possibly with the incoherent blather of a first draft before me. For the record, I used to write exclusively in Word (and WordStar before that, and on a Brother word processor before that) but I have recently gravitated toward Scrivener in doing my drafts. I finish the draft in Word, but Scrivener has some pretty cool tools for getting those drafts before the “final” draft.
Anyway, I stare at the screen. I have music playing low. If I want to feel really inspired, or I’m writing a fight scene, I’ll put on the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack. Nothing gets the blood stirring like that music. Otherwise I just put on Cinemix from iTunes, which is all movie music. I can’t listen to anything with words, because I end up singing along (badly) and not writing.
So, music playing, computer in front of me, I type 50 words. Hmm, wonder what’s happening on Facebook? Let’s take a look. Oh, that’s an interesting article. Oh look, Buzzfeed has the top 20 warts that look like Tom Cruise. That should be entertaining. I haven’t checked Twitter in a bit. Let’s see what pithy 140 character thoughts people have shared. Hey, a half hour has passed, maybe I should write some more. Another 50 words. Let’s take a break to check my email. And it’s my turn in the online Lords of Waterdeep game I’m playing. Better take care of that. Okay, that’s done, let’s write another 50 words. Oh, Words with Friends, why are you so addictive. Maybe I should have some lunch.
Okay, maybe it’s not quite that bad, but I do tend to write in spurts. I’m good for 150-200 words, then there has to be a break. I don’t have ADD per se, but I suspect a slap in the face with a bottle of Adderall would do me a world of good.
I’m trying to get better at writing for longer periods. For instance, I’ve written this 670+ words with only one pause to check Facebook. But still, it’s kind of how I do it. In On Writing, Stephen King said you only have to write 1000 words a day. The trick is to do it EVERY DAY. I don’t always manage to do that, since writing sometimes takes a back seat to work, but I try to do it as often as possible. If I can consistently do a thousand words, that’s a first draft in 3-4 months. I’m going to try and pick up the pace, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I can’t. Of course, once the deadlines start punching me in the stomach, I may have to pick it up or be run over by a herd of rampaging editors.
Another thing I’m working to improve is how I write. I’ve always been a pantser, which is another reason I tend to write slow. I’ve been known to run down a blind plot alley and have to turn back screaming to flee in the other direction from the swampy mess I’ve written myself into. However, with the sequels to A Whisper of Death, I’ve decided to try and (shudder) plot them out. It took my several years, and an insane number of sidetracks, to get Erick and the gang where they ended up in the first book. I suspect I won’t have that luxury with the second and third, so in addition to beginning to flesh out the wider world, since they are going to be entering more of it, I’m also trying to plan the steps they are going to take to get where they’re going. It’s an interesting experiment, but a process I think I could learn to enjoy. As long as I leave room for those little side tracks characters like to occasionally force you to take, plotting shouldn’t be too bad at all.
So that’s kind of how I do it. It’s an ever-evolving process, as I think it should be, and I keep working on getting better and better at it every day. Oh look, I made my thousand words. Time to go play a videogame.
About the Author:
Paul has lived a varied life full of excitement and adventure. Not really, but it sounds good as an opening line.
Paul’s multiple careers have included: rock and roll roadie, children’s theater stage manager, television camera operator, mortgage banker, and support specialist for Microsoft Excel.
This eclectic mix prepared him to go into his true love: motion picture production. He has produced two motion pictures and two documentaries: His film Night Feeders released on DVD in 2007, and Cold Storage was released by Lionsgate in 2010
Amidst all this, Paul has worked on his writing, starting with his first short story, about Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, at age 8. Paul has written and produced numerous commercial and industrial video scripts in his tenure with his forcreative agency, Indievision. He has two published short stories (As You Sow and Double Cross) and one self-published novel (Godchild). He lives with his filmmaker/graphic artist partner and their three cats.
Social Media:
