The Daylight War Stage I: The Stepsheet
A lot of people, usually other writers, e-mail me asking questions about my writing process. Love love love to talk process, we writers. I’m not sure where the fascination comes from. I wonder sometimes if it has something to do with all of us feeling insecure. Like deep down, we all feel like we have no idea WTF we are doing, and that other writers have their acts together better than we do. But when we talk to them and see that their processes are as weird and neurotic as ours, it makes us feel better.
Or I could just be projecting my own feelings on other writers to make myself feel less crazy. Who knows?
Anyway, this post is about my writing process. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as I map out my strategy for writing The Daylight War, attempting to apply what I’ve learned from writing my last two books. If you’re not a writer, this post will probably bore the crap out of you. Apologies in advance. Feel free to skip it.
If you are a writer, you may find this post interesting, but odds are it won’t help you with your own writing. Each of us accesses our creativity differently, and while I do believe that you can train yourself to access that creativity on command in some ways, the Dark Gift is different for each of us, as they say. Some writers are detailed outliners. Others just make everything up as they go along. It runs the full spectrum in between, and there are bestselling writers on both ends and at various points betwixt. It’s not for me to say which is better. I believe writing style is related at least partially to how our minds organize information, and that is based on the unique mix of biology and experience in each of us.
For myself, my outlining process has gotten increasingly OCD over the years, but therefore also much more precise. The first draft of The Warded Man was written very freely; I pretty much made it up as I went along. Arlen’s core journey in that book is essentially unchanged in the final version, but Rojer and Leesha did not have their own POV sections, and the events after all the characters came together went right off the rails. The ending of the book was lackluster and useless, and set up the story to move in a direction I didn’t want with the second book. It’s no wonder why no one wanted to represent that manuscript.
I knew that I had a good world and good characters, but by not planning ahead, I had written myself into a corner. I understood where things went wrong, but correcting the problem meant throwing out about 60% of he story. Literally YEARS of work. I had started the book in 1999, and this was almost 2006. Part of me wondered if it was worth the effort to try and fix it. I thought maybe it was time to stop throwing good money after bad, scrap the whole demon world thing, and do something new.
But for my love of the characters and their world, I decided to stick with it. I took an axe to the manuscript and hacked out huge chunks with a cold butcher’s heart. I hacked and hacked until only the bare skeleton of Arlen’s life journey remained. I then started an outline fresh from the beginning, writing fairly detailed bulleted notes in-between those remaining chunks of prose to list what I wanted to accomplish with each scene, why it was necessary, how it moved the story forward, etc. I broke those notes into chapters and threaded Rojer and Leesha’s tales in and around Arlen’s, finally bringing them together in a way that gave both a satisfying conclusion to each of their personal stories while leaving them in the place I wanted them to be when the next book picked up.
I called that detailed story skeleton my stepsheet. Not sure where I got that word. I think I heard my buddy Matt use it once, and it stuck with me.
Once the stepsheet was done, I broke out the first chapter as a separate MSWord file and synced it to my smartphone. Each day on my morning and evening 45 minute subway commute between Brooklyn and Times Square, I pecked away with my thumbs writing the prose. Thanks to the stepsheet, I could focus wholly on character interactions and emotions without having to worry that the plot would go awry.
Each night, I would sync that file back to my desktop computer, fix the numerous typos, and pick up where I left off with the prose. When I finished a chapter, I would paste it into the main file and then break out the next one in line, tweaking the notes as needed. I would do that until I felt burnt out and crawled into bed, usually at around 2am. Up again at 7:30, later, rinse repeat. I did that for about a year.
It wasn’t fun. I would much rather have spent that subway time been reading comic books, or fantasy novels, or watching movies on my iPod video. But I wanted to write a book, and if there’s one thing I can honestly say about myself, it’s that I can be damn stubborn when I set my mind on something.
When it came time to write The Desert Spear, I was even more detailed. I felt enormous pressure to create something that appealed to fans of the first book, but without just regurgitating the same formula, and to continue to challenge myself as a writer. Wanting to leave nothing to chance, I wrote a VERY tight stepsheet that listed every event great and small throughout the book, including the dynamics of character interaction, the emotions of the POV character and those around them, background information, and large chunks of dialogue. I did all that before I ever started on prose. That way, I never needed to worry about the big picture, and could just focus on my brushstrokes.
That detailed stepsheet was more tedious and took a lot of the fun out of writing. It was also slow, and ended up delaying completion of the manuscript for a few months beyond the estimates I originally gave my publishers, which is something that no one, especially me, wanted.
But I felt it was more important that the book be my best work than be completed quickly. For all the downsides, the stepsheet gave me the level of control I needed to tell a far more complex story than that of the first book. I honestly don’t think I could have pulled off otherwise. Especially since not long after the stepsheet was completed, my wife and I had our first child, and I wrote most of the prose with bleary eyes between the baby’s bi-hourly feedings or night terrors, sometimes with her sleeping in my arms.
There no doubt in my mind that I was able to achieve all my goals with The Desert Spear because of the stepsheet, and I really think TDS is my best work to date.
For TDW, which is in many ways even more complex than TDS, I’ve been even more careful with the stepsheet. I’ve spent the last six months stepsheeting. Pondering worldbuilding questions. Adding new levels to the magic system. Defining character traits. Working out individual character arcs and trying to thread them harmoniously into an overall story. Plotting fight choreography. Researching random things. Syncing up timing of events in distant places and calculating the relative speed of various forms of transportation. Etc.
But as of last night, it’s done. I have the full Daylight War stepsheet. It is 170 pages long, and it kicks some serious ass.
Stage I complete. On to Stage II: prose. I have no idea how long stage II will take, but at this moment, I feel really confident that the end result will be awesome.
You don’t even wanna hear about stage III: rewrites. That’s when it gets really intense…
Fascinating. And congratulations on getting it done.
I have to give you major kudos for seeing what was not working in the first book and chopping away. That’s DIFFICULT and took a lot of balls.
I’ve never been an outliner type, preferring to “organically” grow the story. However, I can see how you can combine the two methods to come up with a much better story.
Thanks for a peek inside. OCD is not always a bad thing 🙂
That sounds like a pretty cool way to approach writing. Sometimes, being a programmer, I don’t like to take the time to outline (or plan ahead) how I want to solve a problem, or code a new project. But I find that when I do something similar to what you describe, my code always turns out better. I know coding and writing are different, but they also have some similarities. And, I look forward to giving The Painted Man another go when The Desert Spear comes out.
Wow, Brett. Sounds a lot like my approach to writing, which makes me feel good. At least I’m not alone in my madness.
Jeff, I think there are a lot of similarities between coding and writing. Like “real” languages, computer language provides many ways to get from point A to point C.
I know quite a few web designers, and some of them feel their way through a page, writing code that makes the head of an .html/php novice like me spin. Others are much more diligent with their CSS and write only clean, spartan code, with the bulk of their design work invisible in the background.
To the viewer, the pages might look the same, but the underlining language is vastly different. I expect it’s much the same with other sorts of programming.
Thanks for the insight into your writing process. Sounds intense yet very thorough and productive. More planning up front should, in theory, make the back end easier. Kudos!
I hope you don’t mind that I ignored the initial warning – but I’m certainly glad I did. ‘though not a writer, I found that really interesting! Got to love seeing into the mind of folk who are writing the epics of this authorial generation.
Congrats on getting the Stepsheet done; considering how detailed you’ve said it is I find myself baffled merely contemplating it! If you ever swing by Swansea, I would be more than happy to buy you a beer in retroactive celebration, heh.
Wow, that’s a really intense process! I just have a loose framework in my head, then write the meat and two veg of the novel as i go along, going back in the second draft and tidying up the things i messed up the first time.
Makes it more fun my way, but i can really see the point of doing it the way you do. Just not sure i’ve got the patience and tenacity to keep at something like stepsheet.
My hat goes off to you sir…
I can honestly say that Pete taught me how to write. The stepsheet process is *critical* for me, because of my scatterbrained ADD approach to writing. If I just go with the flow and write prose directly, I’ll make it several hundred pages before discovering a fatal plot flaw that causes me to junk the whole manuscript. I wasted *many* years that way. The stepsheet process fixed that for me, enabling me to produce a manuscript that netted me the same agent who represents Pete.
I still free wheel it more than he does, but I am a firm believer in (to quote Pete here from an email) “making the skeleton adamantium strong before you start slapping flesh on it.”
Hi Peat,
thanks for the tips on the Excel progress log. I got it set up nicely now.
I”ve actually reached the same point with my manuscript. After 5 years of work, I’ve finally realised what needs to be done and how everything will fit together. The problem is I’ll have to cut a lot and rewrite it. To tell you the truth, I haven’t yet fully plucked up the courage to see it through. It’s friightening because I spent so much time on it. I think you’ve given me the last push that I needed, though. Not gonna continue throwing good money after bad…
Learco, the beauty of the computer age is that you can save a copy of your book as is before you start cutting. It’s never really lost, and deleted scenes make for great website content!
Harden your heart, pick up a hatchet, and do what must be done. If I can offer any advice to writers, it is this: No bit of writing is so good that it can’t be cut for the good of the overall story. Even that super-clever turn of phrase. Even that awesome fight scene. Even that character you love.
Kill them.
Thanks for the insight Peat, not just into your writing process but also into the hard work and effort that goes into the different steps of your story-making process.
-Khaled
I’m pretty sure I am not the only person that would like to see what a proper stepsheet looks like. Maybe you could release it sometime after the book comes out…it would be in keeping with the DVD bonus material style that “deleted chapters” and the like have added to your book.
Khaled, I am going to answer your e-mail about The Desert Spear soon, I promise.
Adam, I appreciate the thought, but your comment implies that I have the slightest idea what a “proper” stepsheet should be. I imagine mine are but a gross caricature of one.
Sometimes I do think about doing a post, maybe in the Excisions section, where I do the anatomy of a PVB scene, from stepsheet to prose. I think it would be a lot of work to put together, though, so I am putting it off for a rainy day.
Thanks for sharing this; it’s fascinating and educational. I’ve been wondering about outlines and preliminary notes, and it’s great to read about your process. Please post more of these behind-the-scenes writerly habits!
Just want to say great book,s peth cant wait for
the daylight war leathel stuff
I cant wait for the next book literally lol. please a rough idea when it may come out and please dont say 3 years.
Not 3 years, certainly, but not fast, either. My best educated guess is that it will be out sometime in the last quarter of 2011 or the first half of 2012. It depends on a lot of factors, only some of which are in my control. I’ll have updates on the blog as things progress.
Without sounding too much of a kiss ass, you and writers with a depth of imagination as deep as yours and a motivated determination are an inspiration to me. I have begun the long process of creating my own book and often have to spark my imagination with books like yours. Keep up the great work.
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I’m not a writer but have often considered putting my ideas on paper. The thought of it has always been daunting to me, but learning how this all came together has been educational. I need to complement you on both of your books (I have yet to read your novellas). What ever your method is, it works and I for one cannot wait to see what happens next. I’m glad you would rather delay the release and do the thing right. I’m sure your fans would be much happier with your best after a long wait than pull a Microsoft and publish before it’s ripe!
Loved the first 2 books, can you give me an idea when we can expect the 3rd released in the uk.
Thanks
Stumbled upon this old entry and remembered that the last thing I asked you was when book 3 was coming out. It was in jest, but I overlooked how it must be an irksome, cloying question by now. PR’s blog amusingly shows this. We don’t mean to be pushy or to treat you like writing machines. We rarely ponder the amount of work and time that goes into a book we devour in hours. The truth is: you can never write them fast enough for us eager readers. The other truth is: we will happily wait however long it takes and will be thankful to read it when you deem it’s ready…and immediately inquire about the next one. Such is the madness of loyal readership.
if I am to be honest.. I hate talking about the proces of writing. But maybe that’s why I haven’t written a thing since 2008… -_-”
Hi Pete…
From one writer to another it’s always the outside influences that do not help with creative writing. We have no other choice but to work around noise, kids, screaming neighbors and the occacional family member that needs more attention than the rest.. But I have no doubt you will prevail. Thanks for the great books. I have had a great time reading them..
Fascinating! I write, but articles and not novels. I do enjoy reading about the “process” as the length of novels has always intimidated me and I’m pretty certain that I’d get lost in details then write myself into corners! 🙂 Also, I’m grateful my work is done in a week’s time… I’m not sure I have the patience and fortitude to focus on a single manuscript for… years! Still, I was wondering if you’d consider posting a page or two from one of your “old” stepsheets?
LOVED TWM and TDS. Can’t wait for Daylight War. Happy writing! PS — love the photo of you and your daughter. 🙂