Today is my day on #MyWritingProcess Blog Tour, where
writers and authors answer questions about their writing processes. I was
invited to take part in this by a great writing friend of mine Lisa Terry, who
posted about her work last week Lisa's Blog Post She is an fantastic writer that I
learned a lot from about editing, take a look at her writing process too, I’m
sure you’ll enjoy it.
Before
telling you my writing process, I thought I'll fill you in on with what #MyWritingProcess
means:
“We writers
share these things, but informally during workshops and at conferences (and,
for a handful of established writers, in printed interviews), but not so much
through our open-forum blogs. With the hashtag #MyWritingProcess, you can learn
how writers all over the world answer the same four questions. How long it
takes one to write a novel, why romance is a fitting genre for another, how
one’s playlist grows as the draft grows, why one’s poems are often sparked by
distress over news headlines or oddball facts learned on Facebook…”
What am I working on?
I’m currently working on a
couple of projects at the moment, the first I, Vladimir is in its final editing
stages and is due for release later this year from Gentry Publishing. I’m also
working on the second in the series, Anonymous Jack. The main vampire characters
from I, Vladimir revisit us in this follow on so it is more of a spin off than
a sequel. Anonymous Jack is Arminius’ story of how he was a promising medical
student who is lured into a dark alleyway where he is attacked by the woman who
led him there. She turns him into a creature of the night but when something
proves not quite right with Arminius, he is brought to meet the elders of the
clan. Instead of learning why he is different from his new kind, he goes out in
search of prey alone, and soon becomes history’s most notorious serial killer.
How does my work differ from
others of its genre?
This is quite a difficult
question to answer. I like to blend a mixture of both fact and fiction in all
of my writing. Even though I write fiction, in both of my novels I have used
historical facts, dates and events that I hope will bring a sense of reality to
the reader.
I’ll leave this question
with a quote which was written by one of the earlier readers during the working
process of I, Vladimir which I hope helps answer it –
"Historically, this is
minutely documented, making it more realistic than fantasy."
Why do I write what I do?
They always say write what
you enjoy reading - I have always loved the horror genre, and I owe it all to
James Herbert. Ever since I picked up The Rats many years ago, since then I
have read his entire collection, some more than a few times. Although my two
novels would not quite fall into that category, there’s definitely enough blood
and gore to keep the most blood thirsty of you entertained.
After a fantastic writing
career he was made the Grand Master of Horror by the World of Horror Convention
in 2010, but sadly James passed away in 2013.
How does my writing process
work?
Before I answer this
question I’ll start with a bit of advice…
Take each bit of advice you hear
with a pinch of salt… I know, talk about a contradiction.
What I mean by this is… that
you have to find what works for you as a writer.
There are all sorts of
writers out there. There are the planners and the plotters, who have every
single detail written down before they even start. They know what each
character looks like, what they wear, they even know what happens in each
chapter as the story progresses. Or there are those who fly by the seats of
their pants and just see where their pens or keyboards take them with little or
no planning at all.
I am of the latter. I know
the beginning and the end, that’s it! I begin to write, I enjoy the journey and
I research as I go. I’m a real believer of the bum in seat and write approach,
get that first draft written, and edit it later.
I once heard an author give
a talk about his writing and he described it as like being on a tightrope. He
would always write the first and last chapter first, he did say he rarely used
them in the end, and then he would navigate between those two points. I think
this is the closest description I’ve heard to my own writing process, but I
wouldn’t go as far as writing a first and last chapter before.
Thank you for reading this
brief look into my writing process and I hope you enjoyed it, but before you go
it is my turn to pass the challenge on.
Firstly I’d like to
introduce one of my longest writing friends, Mary T Bradford. Mary is a great
writer who I am luckily enough to meet up with most mornings at our local
library where we work away, well until the tea and coffee arrives anyway. Over
the years I’ve learned loads from Mary, so I know you’re going to enjoy reading
her blog and her writing process which she’ll post next Monday. For now here’s
a short bio about her…
Mary T Bradford is from county Cork, married
and mother of four children. She has seen her work in various magazines,
newspapers and anthologies both in Ireland and abroad. It was because of this
success that, Mary took the plunge and self-published her first collection
titled, A Baker’s Dozen (2012), 13 stories covering the ups and downs of life.
It is available in both print and e-book from Amazon and other book sites. When
one of her stories kept growing, it was then she realised this was her first
novel emerging. Tirgearr Publishing in Ireland picked it up and Mary signed her
first contract earlier this year. Her novel titled My Husbands Sin is due out
on July1st 2014. Not content with all this, Mary has dipped in to writing plays
and seen her work short-listed and performed on stage.
Next up is Marie O’
Halloran. Marie is another great friend of mine who meets both Mary and myself
in the library when her work permits. She is newer to writing but don’t let
that fool you, her enthusiasm and drive is matched by no one. She has had
fantastic success with her poetry, and is currently working hard on her novel.
I’ll let her tell you more…
Marie O’Halloran lives in Co. Cork,
Ireland. She writes novels, poetry,
short stories and plays. A number of her poems have been commended and
published. She was also part of the program of readers at the 2013 Fermoy
International Poetry Festival. Her short stories have been commended and
published also. She was proud to contribute to and be involved in the editing
and production of a collection of award winning stories entitled ‘Just
Because’. She has completed her first
novel, a psychological thriller which is under consideration and is working on
her second a crime thriller.
Thanks for stopping by,
All the best,
Daniel Kaye x
