Writing A Book Is A Project, But Writing A Story Is a Completely Different Project That Requires One Hell of A Process.
"If [Marvel] can write a book, then I know I can". I believe in you. I believe you. I believe in your journey to start writing your book, but more importantly I believe in your journey to finishing your book!
The completion of We Missed A Meeting was a beautiful thing, and the reward of knowing that the opening act of this story is now in the hands of so many people who will read, enjoy, share, and toss the book to the side is really what all of this is about. Obviously, we all hope to one day get to a J.K Rowling level, or a Stan Lee, or even an Ava Duvernay level with our published works, but the day-by-day enjoyment of seeing friends and online peers becoming fans is amazing​.
But if you, my naive follower or peer think that "If [Marvel] can write a book, then I know I can" is going to get you from concept to cover, then I have one strong statement for you.
For one, I think the statement is a bit of a shot at my ability, knowledge, and imagination. Secondly, I think you completely underestimate what is required from an author when one decides to dive into fiction. Fiction is really like no one other genre, and one of the most daring things to do, in this day, is to be a young author of color deciding to whip out an original idea. Sure, it isn't hard to whip out, but it's the daring people to invest and dive into it that's difficult. Fiction isn't always everyone's cup of tea.
You might disagree, so I'll rephrase it. When people hear "fiction", they don't often really process what the genre entails. Some people think of fiction to be dragons, monsters, mystical worlds - not that there is anything wrong with that - and they miss out on all the good times. With so many books becoming adapted into movies, fiction doesn't require the challenge of sharing imaginations because most people's first interaction with a storyline may be on film, where one can enjoy entertainment through their eyes, rather than having to conjure the sense of imagination.
In this blog post, I wanted to share the largest chunks that I can throw at you, both in encouragement, shade, and warning if you're looking to go hard in the author's paint. BEGINNING IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE IT'S NEVER REALLY DEFINITE.
QUESTION I'VE GOTTEN: WHEN DID YOU HAVE TIME TO WRITE A BOOK? The answer to that question is so vague because the process is so vague. It took me 450 Days to take We Missed A Meeting from first day writing to published book available on Amazon. But you have to remember, just like with any other skill or talent, imagination is a muscle that requires stretching and practice. May 24th, 2017 was the official first day that I started the document that became We Missed A Meeting​, but it wasn't my first time writing it.
There is no beginning to writing. There are just moments that inspire moments, that inspire moments, that spring an idea, that bring you to conviction. You're either convicted to share an idea, tell a message, of you just enjoy mind-fucking people. Writing can take 450 days, but from the birth of an idea to the final proof, a story can take three years total (like We Missed A Meeting did). The moments that inspired this book's completion were the completion of a short story called "Strangers' Ears", "Life In the Garden with Lizard and Snake", and "Black Grasshopper". Those three stories all share elements, themes, and ideas that are directly echoed in ​We Missed A Meeting.
YOU PROBABLY CANNOT WRITE AT HOME.
If you've ever seen movies like Misery (Stephen King), or The Secret Window (Stephen King), or Sinister, you'll see a recurring aspect of authors being sent away from their homes to finish a book with pressure from the publishing company after previous failing titles. Thank God I didn't have the pressure part, but the aspect of having to be away from home is true.
When I was in college, I would college $2 cash, drive to Flatwoods Park in Tampa, walk about 1 mile into the park and sit at a single picnic table with a can of Monster and some beef jerky. That was where I'd write my homework sometimes. It's corny - I know. But it made me feel creative. I was out of my element, which at the time was a messy room, music playing, and maybe even friends barging into my room. I liked that spot because I'd often say you couln't hear cars, trains, or planes. Being home is distracting. From chores, phone calls, hunger, television premiers, your smartphone, etc, it's almost impossible to imagine sitting still enough to dive into your work. That's why the next two points are important. TIME.
The reason why most creatives who have an idea never get to start (or finish it) is because they can't seem to figure out how to get started. Time is important because your habits take time. Will you write before bed? Will you write during your commute? Will you write at lunch? Or are you an adrenaline junky, who loves taking risks and applying stress upon yourself, like me, and write anytime any place. I am a masochist. Time requires space, and if you're really looking to get started, I promise you investing in (a) a cloud-based note app such as EverNote, or Google Drive (I suggest Evernote for starting) will help alot. In addition, (b) you'll need an app that can suffocate your distractions. Apps like QualityTime or anything that is based around deactivating apps, notifications, to help you focus will due you justice.
We all can't afford to drive into the woods to write, but at least if you can section of a piece of your living space, make room, zone out distractions and get to creating, then you'll start to cover more ground than you ever had. Personally, I would section out somewhere between 3 to 6 hours for writing, and would do so somewhere between once or twice a month. Between May and July 2017, I had 6 writing sessions averaging about 4 hours. Between July and September, I had 5. I took a two month break, and then picked back up in December, which is when 6 hours became standard. By January of this year, I had a full 3 books completed, which I determined was just too much and needed to scale back. My final writing day took place in February of this year, and my final revision day took place in early August. You just make time​. SO HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?
The question I always ask people who tell me they're working on some form of creative project: how did the idea come to you? What was significant in that moment? What was your feeling towards that idea? What was that idea? Was that idea a question, or a statement? Are you willing to defend that answer? How? Why? How you deliver that answer in court? How would you deliver that answer to your grandmother? How would you deliver that answer so that someone can't counter-answer with another question? So, how did that idea make you come up with a story? What is the story? Does it have characters? How, in this day, will you come up with names for your character? Why that name, though? Is it significant? Why not? Why? How? How do you know that for sure?
I think you get the point. You do not start writing a book when you sit down with a pen or laptop in front of you. It's going require you to answer questions like the ones I just asked. Those are the questions that I asked myself over and over again, through multiple stories, multiple writing sessions, multiple times, multiple drafts. I think this concept is easier to comprehend now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is around because it gives us an example of the sheer scale of what you usually have to build in order to make a really compelling book. Your characters have to have back stories that you and only you know; the settings need deep definition; and you have to invest your imagination and your conviction to making it all as real as possible, so that your readers either don't know they're reading fiction, or submit to the suspense of disbelief. PRACTICE YOUR SYNPOSIS
Yes. Practice your synopsis. Practice saying what your story is about. No, I mean the abridged version. Practice the synopsis of only what is actually written thus far. Trust me.
Hopefully this has helped you all with some insight into how deep you have to go. It's all conviction. I've grown to really enjoy the hashing out of a piece of fiction and, despite originally being a short story author, We Missed A Meeting has really challenged me to expand my practices and shoot to a larger arena of writing. The novel series is expected to be as many as 6 total books (this may change), and I am looking to begin a secondary project as well sometime this year. I am looking to get a group of writers together, possibly for a writer guild or some form of collaborative work. So if you're interested, please contact me via one of my open channels. WE MISSED A MEETING: THEY CHOSE YOU, MR. FERGUSON is available now!
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