I strongly encourage anyone who writes to call themselves a "writer". Are you a professional? Probably not. I'm certainly not, even though I have been paid to write - once upon a time ago. But do I enjoy writing? Most certainly. I love the hell out of it and do it when I can, therefore, I call myself a writer and so should you.
That brings me to the topic of the writing process. If you're at all familiar with this blog, you know that I have interviewed several local (Houston area) writers over the years and not one of them has the same writing process. Obviously, there's a beginning, a middle and an end to every story, but not everyone tells it the same way.
I'm the kind of person who likes to start at the beginning and work my way through to the bitter end. No matter where the story takes me, no matter how many rabbit holes it leads me down, no matter the outcome, I sit and I go from A to B to C and so on. Skipping around drives me insane. If I get to a dead end where I can't possibly go any further, the delete key is my best friend. I might save a copy if I feel like it's worth it, but most of the time I delete back to where I veered off course and start again.
Currently, my good friend Ed Vela and I are working on an exciting new project together. We have distinctly different writing styles and you would think it would make it difficult to meld our ideas and styles together. Instead, what we have found is that we make a really good team. Ed primarily thinks in visual scenes, and in fact writes many play and movie scripts. Our original writing process started with him sending me a scene written out in script form - all dialog - and I would then turn it into novel form. Now we are starting to trade scenes back and forth written out in prose.
Another major difference in our styles is that Ed skips around. He writes one scene at a time, probably whatever is inspiring him at the moment, and sends it to me. What used to drive me nuts is now making me think outside the box. It sparks my imagination. What happens next? What happened before? What made the character behave that way? What can I change in this scene to alter the outcome? What happens if...? And on and on. It's what is making our team work.
Without divulging too much of Ed's brainchild, the book is a sci-fi/fantasy story, and it has been so much fun writing in that genre. It's not one I am used to and it's been a bit of a learning curve. I have really grown attached to this project and wait to be able to tell you guys more.
One more thing I want to touch on is writing groups. I feel there is a place and time to get feedback on the pieces you feel are ready for the stage, for a contest, for publishing, or whatever. But how do you go about doing that? For a short while I was part a local writing group. It was how I met Tom Scanlon and the late Gibson Michaels, both of whom I remained in touch with after the group disbanded. I actually enjoyed that group and got decent feedback on my short stories. I found them through meetup.com.
Another group I am a part of is readmyplay.com. You anonymously submit your plays to be read and anonymously read and critique other people's plays. I feel it has a very fair setup and can't recommend it enough.
The downfall to writing groups? (warning - foul language ahead!)
Sometimes people just don't like your shit and tear it a new asshole. Is that blunt enough for you?
When that happens, and it will, you have to sift through the hateful language to find the real critique and then brush it off.
So my fellow writers. What is your writing process? How do you go about getting feedback? I would love to hear back from you.
