Allow me to share with you how my process goes.
Why do I write by the seat of my pants?
There are friends of mine who are planners. They will plot out ANYTHING that they write. The outlines they create are elaborate, thorough, and detailed. Then, once that is complete, they start the full project.
Not me. I sit down at my keyboard (because, honestly, I type faster than I handwrite these days – and – my handwriting, at full speed, isn’t tremendously legible) and go. There is an idea in my head and it needs to find its way to the screen.
Once I have put the idea out of my head, now I get to work on expanding it, and altering it. As I go on, the character is in a scene, the scene is part of a story, and more characters and scenes are stitched together into the end novel.
There is, admittedly, a downside to this. On more than one occasion it took me a while to find the overall plot. I mean, it was there all along – I just don’t recognize it right away.
Take The Vapor Rogues, for example. The first Steampunk short story in the Spells and Swashbucklers anthology was self-contained. But to create that world I did a rather impressive outline. It was so thorough that I HAD to create more – and Clouds of Authority came into being.
As I worked on this first book, I had some vague notion of plot. But it wasn’t until I was done with Book 2, the unedited/unpublished Clouds of Destiny, that the overall plot was clear.
Yes, you read that correctly – I published the first book without a clear idea of where the plot was going.
But this is MY creative process. Yours is probably very different.
What’s in your head?
Step into the Wayback machine with me (sorry, the Doctor refuses to bring the TARDIS for this silliness, and the DeLorean was smashed by a train). I was an odd child. One of those kids that did a lot of reading and thinking, and playing in the backyard on the swingset alone. Or else I was creating unique adventures with my Star Wars action figures and vehicles and such.
I was unathletic, and for various reasons didn’t fit in with the other kids in the neighborhood. But my imagination…wow. The swingset was not a swingset – it was my starship. I was traveling to distant galaxies and discovering aliens and having tons of adventures by myself with my non-existent, invisible crew.
At nine I wrote my first sci-fi story. It was 50 pages and illustrated. This would be the beginning of the process of me sharing some of what goes on inside my head.
There are many friends, family members, current and former coworkers, and numerous acquaintances, places, and things in my head. But just as real and alive there are fantastical aliens, swashbuckling queens, and sorcerers, and incredible worlds nobody has ever visited in there, too.
When I am writing a work of fiction, I see the people and places as I write about them. In my mind, they are just as real as I am. They “speak” to me.
Sometimes, I admit, I wonder if I am actually “creating” these characters and places or just sharing an alternate world that I can channel from elsewhere. Given how I find plots sometimes well into the process, rather than at the beginning, it’s not an implausible question.
Whatever it may be, I love to pull these things out of my head and put them to the page.
The process of sharing inspiration/self-help
I am inspired by a lot of things. Songs, other people’s stories, and a lot of different motivational, inspirational writers – both well-known and less so.
With Pathwalking, I started to create and live a personal philosophy. It made me a more grounded, centered, happier person. As my practice of mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and creating/finding positivity has grown – so has my desire to share it.
There are NO quick-fixes that actually work. Diets, nicotine patches, subliminal recordings might have an instant impact – but it tends to wear out. Soon you are putting weight back on, smoking, and doing whatever you were trying to subliminally change.
My philosophy for self-help and inspiration is slow. Mindfulness takes time and practice. You don’t just instantly stop letting your subconscious do the driving – you need to frequently check-in with yourself and assume control. It gets easier over time. But since the world tends to push you to subconscious thought over years and years, putting the focus back to conscious thought takes time.
For example, I didn’t get fat in a day. It has taken me years of overeating, insufficient exercise, excuses, depression, and other factors. Getting into better shape will take time and effort. Even an extreme measure like gastric bypass will not be instantaneous.
I share both my writing process and thoughts on being an author and my inspirational/self-help/motivational stuff because this is my jam. Ideas on my head need to leave my head and take flight in the world at large.
It is a compulsion. Love. There is pure joy in getting the words out of my head and onto the screen.
Hopefully, you find inspiration, motivation, and a drive to help yourself – and I hope that my words and ideas provide you some assistance with that.
Don’t deny your inner desires
The message of modern society is one of conformity. When you don’t do the “norm” and work to fit-in there IS a price to be paid.
But there is also a much greater reward. You don’t slog through life, half-awake and half-asleep. You live and experience more.
One thing the Covid-19 pandemic is showing us in the United States is just how many businesses can provide a work-from-home option. I suspect a lot of people are about to learn that they can be FAR more productive at home than they ever are in the office in about half the time they normally take. And yet, it is a societal expectation you spend 8-10 hours at an office, five days a week, slogging through.
When you work from your inner desire you seldom slog through anything. Your work becomes more a part of you. Even when it’s one of those office jobs it shouldn’t feel draining.
No, this is not easy. Yes, with certain privilege this is a lot easier to achieve. But when more people strive to live life rather than just exist they can inspire others. Change is inevitable, and it always starts small.
Decades of any mindset is going to take time to be changed. But the end result is worth it.
Whatever your process is in whatever medium you work from, keep at it. Don’t deny yourself that desire. Kickass, take names, and be the best you that you can be.
Thank you for taking part in my ongoing journey. Thank you for joining me, and for inspiring me and my words.
End Credits
This is the fiftieth article exploring the creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
Feel free to explore the rest of the website, which I am working to evolve and change for the better…much like I am doing for myself. Also, visit Awareness for Everyone to check out my weekly podcasts.
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