Life and Writing
I took a picture.
Life:
Summer has begun, which means something different to everyone. One of my kids graduated from high school and continues to make me proud. Her sister did her hair for the ceremony. The Kansas wind has something to say about that. You can see my daughters here, taking it in stride.
So much wind.
The youngest, my son, has a couple of years left and has decided we should go to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu every day this summer. I haven’t convinced him that this plan feels different to a fifteen-year-old than it does to my fifty-six-year-old butt. Wish me luck; I am going to need it.
Structure is good. It means I’ve got my hands on the keyboards bright and early every morning. If there is one thing I believe in, it’s consistency.
My writing process:
Here is the problem with my writing method. Hang with me for a second while I pull back the curtain to reveal my process.
I start every day by editing what I wrote the day before. How? Well, I’m glad you asked because my method is pretty badass.
First, I put yesterday’s chapter(s) into an app called Speechify, and make it read each section to me while I follow along in the manuscript. I have grammar aids turned on and clean things up as I go, so my editor gets the cleanest copy possible when it’s time.
The main reason I do this is to immerse myself in the story world and give my creativity a positive signal: get to work!
This has been one of my best tools for years. Machines don’t skip words or fill in gaps, which makes some mistakes leap out. There are things it messes up, but maybe that’s a topic for another post.
Next, I draft from my outline or expand it if I run out of planned story beats or they need adjusting. At heart, I am a discovery writer, which means I love to write without an outline. Give me a simple idea, or just an image, and I can write myself into all kinds of creative corners. Sometimes that’s good, other times, it’s less good.
Recently, I published Red Storm, and my collaborator/publisher J.N. Chaney launched New Worlds. Please check them out and leave reviews if you love them.
Speechify is my favourite subscription app. I read / listen incessantly with it. I even started gifting it to people. It’s a far more useful tool than AI IMO.