Kambrie Williams
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hey Michael! I have a question regarding you being an author and your writing technique. I just wanted to ask about how you form outlines for your work or what you write before you actually start writing your novels. When you first get an idea for a story or a character or a world, what do you usually do? Also I love your books and am excited to catch up on the legends of the first empire series!
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey Kambrie,
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
In general, I have multiple projects going at once. There are books I'm "noodling on", the book I am currently writing, and then one or more books that are in editing. The editing stuff I can jump into and out of at any time, but the writing I only do one book at a time and I'll stay with that until I'm done and it moves to others (alpha readers, beta readers, copy editors).
For the books I'm "noodling" on - I have a Moleskine notebook for each and as idea comes for me I jot down some notes in it. Becuase of my "backlog" there are some books that I'm doing that for years before I start to write.
Anyway, when it comes time to start on one of these books. The first thing I do is start a new Scrivner file (that's a program that I use to write all my books). And the first step is taking all the bits and pieces out of the Moleskin and organizing them in the Scrivner framework. I then flesh out the whole book in an outline (usually 2 - 5 bullet points per chapter. If the book is going to require any research (like a book that takes place on a ship so I need to know things about sailing ships) I do that research and put it into Scrivner so it's at my fingertips. Then once all that "prep work" is done, I start writing.
Usually I'll be deviating from the original outline (as new things come to me during the writing process. But I don't change directions until I "play it through" in my head and make sure I know where I'm going. I'll adjust the remaining parts of the outline as needed, and then I just keep typing away until it's done.
I should note that this is what "I" do and each author is going to have their own techniques and processes that work for them. But it works well for me. Thanks for asking!
More Answered Questions
Devyn Noto
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Good Morning Michael!With the announcement of the "The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter" KS today I was very excited to see a hardcover addition in the mix.I was wondering if there were any plans to do a KS for you previous Riyria books that did not have a hard cover edition?I love collecting the hard covers of my favorite books for display.The Riyria books are the few that I am missing and they are my favorites!
Matthew Sampson
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Greetings! Would it be possible to provide (best guess) body counts for both Royce and Hadrian, separately?! To satisfy my morbid curiosity!! :D Also, follow up question, totally related, any chance of swapping out the current goodreads author pic for the one in The Crown Tower print book? That's a highly prized mustachio I saw in that book!
Lyssa
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hey Michael, new fan here :) I found your books a few weeks ago at my local library, and immediately fell in love with Riyria. I am very happy to now have both Revelations and Chronicles on my shelves :D My question is, are there any plans or would you consider doing a signing?
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