Russ Capasso's Blog

Also known as the “vomit draft” is one of the most important pieces of the writing process. Without it you have nothing. Without it you can’t get to the most important part of writing, which is rewriting. It’s a blueprint for things to come and gives you something to work with. Something to shape, and cull, and build upon to create the story you want. Since my first book I’ve made changes to my process, or more like found my process, that helped me make it easier. Tracking what was I writing and how often helped me power through the first draft. Now I have a 90k word manuscript ready for the next big phase. In a recent Writer Syndrome episode, Tim and I chatted about the first draft, it’s importance, what to expect from it and how we approached our first books versus our next projects. What changes we made to speed up the process or at the very least make it smoother. Check it out!

The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi

Not sure how I came across this book but it sounded interesting as a dystopian, cyberpunk, sci-fi novel, which had won the Hugo award back in 2010. I think I enjoyed it. That’s not much of a review, I know. Loved the world building and settings. Not sure how I feel about the main character’s journey for freedom, who is non-human/bioengineered, which of course explores how a “creature” like her is treated, covering a myriad of social themes and class. It covers bio-terrorism, capitalism (in the form of calories), among others which makes it feel overstuffed with every idea possible. Overall well written, and at times very brutal with sexual violence toward the main character which I don’t know if it was necessary to paint how bleak her journey and life is.

Butcher’s Crossing – John Williams

Butcher’s Crossing kept popping up across top westerns to read so I picked up at the library and I must say, what a great book. The journey of a Harvard grad looking to explore the west, he finds a rag tag group and goes on a buffalo hunt in the west. The villain really is nature and their survival (or not) in this semi coming of age tale, with commentary on capitalism and the expanding west that never felt forced. The pacing, setting, and writing has a flow to it that made it a delight to keep reading. Very much enjoyed it.

Between Two Fires – Christopher Buehlman

Not to be confused with Between Two Ferns, Between Two Fires is an epic journey through plague ridden Europe during the medieval times. A journey with three unexpected characters, the drunk priest, the shamed knight, and orphaned girl. You really end up rooting for each character to find their place and work together. They’re so different in terms of age and place in the world it makes for great conflict, as each searches for their goal, while needing each other to get there. Definitely recommend.

Ghost In The Wires – Kevin Mitnick

Ghost In The Wires follows real world hacker Kevin Mitnick’s journey to becoming one of the most famous hackers back in the 90’s / 2000’s. Starting with hacking phone companies to make free calls, it dives into his ability to not only hack systems but to hack people with social engineering. Very fascinating read with great detail into his more famous exploits. If you’re into hacker history, worth a read.

It’s here! HOST is now available on all major audiobook platforms!

Professionally narrated by my good friend, Mark Garkusha, and running about 8 hours, HOST comes alive in a way I didn’t imagine. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but Mark crushed it and nailed the tone of the story and character nuances. Giving them a depth that really brings the story together and makes them pop in a new way. I’m excited for everyone to listen and to work with Mark on future stories.

Listen to a sample below, it’s the first chapter so no spoilers. You can get it wherever you listen to audiobooks. Quick links below.

I love reading books and watching films across genres. I also like seeing how action / violence is portrayed or used in a story to move along plot and develop a character. To me, action and violence should exist within a story for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you just want a fun, shut the brain off action flick for the sake of it. But the stories that stand out, the ones you return to over and over, use action/violence as a means of developing a character and/or give it purpose other than just being violent for the sake of it. When writing action/violence looking at the genre the story lives within is a great starting point for what the audience might expect. My first and second novels are squarely in the techno-thriller genre. Action and a level of violence is expected, but how much? Something I’ve been thinking more about with my second novel where the level of violence is higher than my first. A main character is a hitman – he’s violent in his job and nature. When writing the action/violent scenes I don’t want to glorify it, but it’s a part of who the character is, and the approach I’m taking is their battle with being violent in nature and thinking what they’re doing is the right thing. A repeated theme throughout the story that a few characters battle with.

When I write an action scene, I visualize it then write it two ways. Typically, the more violent display first, then I’ll pare it down. For me, what we don’t see or read but instead infer builds greater tension versus explicitly showing or stating it. Leaner action to move the scene along, leaner violence to leave the reader to fill in the blanks, and focusing on what these moments share about the character, is more important to me. We’ll see if I pull that off, while maintaining genre expectations, and maybe subverting them a bit to create something new.

In a recent episode of Writer Syndrome, Tim and I dive into violence in writing, genre expectations, and how we approached violence in our own stories. Check it out below!

I spent April taking a break from my latest manuscript. It’s necessary breathing room that allows me to get a different perspective when I start revisions (which I’ve started). Not wanting to waste that time I shifted focus on another story I’ve been toying with for a few years. A western horror about two families colliding over the expectations of the American dream. It’s a bit heavier in terms of storytelling, themes, and well out of my genre comfort zone. Seems like a perfect project, and I’m very excited about it.

In April I refined some story beats I outlined a couple years ago with my podcasting / writing buddy Tim, then turned those beats into a first pass at a scene breakdown. The blueprint for a first draft. It’s in good shape and is almost ready for me to pick away at. During this initial step I also put together lists of books, movies, video games, and research materials to work through. Helps me understand genre expectations, figure out what I like and don’t like, and figure out pacing while also helping me to visualize scenes I have planned. Thought I’d share some of the movies in the movie playlist that I plan to watch / re-watch for inspiration and genre expectations. The list I have is long so here I’m including just a few of my favorites.

The Man With No Name Trilogy

I’m cheating here with the trilogy but the Dollars trilogy is too important to the genre as a whole. The spaghetti westerns are simply fun flicks, with Eastwood, Sergio Leone directing, and Morricone’s soundtrack, they’re instant classics of the genre and can’t be skipped.

3:10 To Yuma

Original or remake you can’t go wrong with 3:10 to Yuma. I prefer the re-make with Russell Crowe and Bale (and Ben Foster), you can’t miss with that combo. Good guy rancher trying to make extra dough by bringing an outlaw to justice is about as western as it gets.

Unforgiven

Another Eastwood of course, but an older wiser Eastwood. With Gene Hackman as the villain, it’s a fantastic slow burn, following Eastwood’s character as a former outlaw and killer turned farmer taking on the ole one last job storyline. I remember seeing this in the theaters and loving it. Easily rewatchable.

True Grit

Another great original or remake, the remake by the Coen brothers is just fantastic. Plus a cast of Bridges, Damon, Brolin, and a young Hailee Steinfeld as the pursuer of revenge for her father’s death, makes for a great watch. Again the western tale as old as time, revenge, sits at the forefront. I think the big difference between this and the John Wayne adaptation, is the remake version is a bit more faithful to the novel in that it follows young Maddie’s POV.

Tension & Suspense pair together like Tango & Cash, like cheese & crackers, like peanut butter and chocolate, to help keep a reader reading. In a recent episode of Writer Syndrome, we dove into the differences between the two and how they serve each other to keep momentum in a story. The two terms are often used interchangeably but they are different.

Tension is built with various literary devices like foreshadowing, a ticking clock, or internal conflicts. Devices that keep readers on edge from moment to moment creating that knot in the chest. Whereas suspense is the unanswered questions the keeps the reader turning pages. It’s the mystery that’s under investigation, the promise made at the start of a story, the bigger picture discoveries for the reader.

Check out the full episode below as we get into how we used these devices in our own stories.

A first draft of Zero-Trust, my next techno-thriller, has been completed! Back in March I was at about 83% (so specific), my goal was to finish by the end of March, before I went on vacation (featured photo on this post). Which I accomplished. Then dropped the draft in a digital drawer for the month of April and stepped away. Distance, like many things in life, is necessary during the writing process to get a better perspective, and realize how much you miss it! May and June I’ll be doing the heavy lifting second draft. Fixing all sorts of plot issues, doing research to make sure everything is believable (up to when the fiction part comes in), and make sure characters are making the right or wrong decisions at the right or wrong times. Then it’ll go to a couple of early beta readers. The real work has begun!

I mentioned back in March that the audiobook for HOST was completed. It still is. I was hoping to review and get it out there by the end of April. I’m still in the review process but plan to crush it this week and get it released this month. So far I’m very pleased (and excited) about it, and can’t wait to get it out there.

During my stepping away time in April from Zero-Trust, I decided to start outlining the next book. Working through story beats and creating a scene breakdown. It’ll be a change of pace for me genre wise, as I’ll be mashing up a western with a little horror. I’m excited about it, and mostly because I’ve put together a western / horror movie, music, book list of content to work through for research. I love this part of the process (I love all of it but this is my favorite, if I had to pick). I’ll share the list of movies, music, and books in a future post, including a couple video games.

After my first book I realized there was a lot of down time between edits / drafts where I could’ve been writing, but had nothing ready. I’m structuring my time differently, filling those gaps where I step away from one project, with work towards something new. For me, it’s a good way to get distance but not so much where I lose momentum. Which is easy for me.

Now, off to watch some westerns and celebrate my birthday.

A friend of mine, and early beta reader of HOST, told me in their feedback that it felt a little too much of a coincidence that my main character’s father just so happened to be the one who discovered the signal that kicks off the plot. I said that’s fair, but that’s also how stories work. We’re still friends, by the way.

My argument was, every story has at least one coincidence (sometimes, most times, it’s the catalyst or inciting incident that sends our hero on their journey), to get things going. What are the chances that John McClane’s wife happens to work at the company that’s about to be robbed on Christmas eve? Without it, we wouldn’t have the greatest Christmas movie ever made.

Making that coincidence believable is what’s important. Are the characters, and the situation they’re in aligned to make that feel plausible? How much disbelief (or belief?) do I, as reader or viewer, need to suspend to be OK with continuing this story? Balancing the answers to those questions will keep me around, unless it’s clearly intended to be ridiculous, well then, have at it.

The other big issue with coincidences is how many is too many? (Spoilers: more than one). Once a character is thrust into a world, everything that happens, or occurs, should be because of the world, or obstacles other characters put in the way. Including decisions based on beliefs or backstory that inform their world view, which, if established early, provides readers and viewers with enough information to say, ‘yes, this is plausible.’

Having a special power in the nick of time, or discovering something that had no earlier setup that wasn’t earned, will feel like a cheat, or a deus ex machina. Once a story kicks off, everything after should be earned, and build to a change in character that will solve the problem at hand.

In episode 70 of Writer Syndrome, we dive into coincidences in various stories, including our own. Check it out!

2025 coming in hot! What a year so far. This is what I’ve been reading in that time. That’s all I got.

The Old Man – Thomas Perry

Started reading this because of the show with the same name, and Jeff Bridges. Enjoyed the show, the book less so. I know, that doesn’t usually happen. The book is a fairly standard thriller about an, you guessed it, old man, who’s on the run once his cover is blown. The book is very slowed paced and more about travelling than thrilling. Wasn’t for me, but I’m sure some people find it interesting. The show on the otherhand added a little spice to it, with twists (albeit obvious) and deepened the plot with character interactions. Too bad it was cancelled on a massive cliffhanger / setup.

The Hunger of the Gods – John Gwynne

Took me a while to finish this one but not because it lagged or wasn’t good. It was just me. Fantastic follow up to The Shadow of the Gods, and #2 in the Bloodsworn Trilogy. Great characters that keep you invested and action that keeps things moving. It ends on a tough note, but looking forward to the third book which came out this year, The Fury of the Gods. Highly recommend if you like Viking fantasy / revenge tales.

The End of Eternity – Isaac Asimov

This is one of my all time favorite novels. Needed a little time travel in my life and this is a go-to. It’d been awhile since I’d last read it and it still delivered on the twist and got me! Hands down a classic and will most likely get another read through as I dig into my own time travel story.

The Quantum Thief – Hannu Rjaniemi

I don’t even remember how I came across this novel, and I’m not even sure I enjoyed it that much. It was, for me, OK. It’s a high sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, with thieves and ships that can flirt. I feel like I enjoyed most of it but the ending left me sour. Like nothing that happened mattered. It’s pacing is swift which I appreciated.

What the heck is an epilogue? What’s it for? Why use it? Do you need it? So many questions! Want answers? Of course you do. Then check out episode #65 of Writer Syndrome where we dig into epilogues and leave no cliffhangers.