Bryan Timothy Mitchell's Blog, page 3

Infernal Fall Live Interview

This interview took place on September 29th, 2022

Descendant Publishing and I talked about how our partnership came to be and how Infernal Fall developed over time. I read a passage from Infernal Fall that introduces Heartless Charles, who is also a part of the short story No Place Like Home.

Infernal Fall Book TrailerPreorder Infernal Fall

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Infernal Fall Book Trailer

The Infernal Fall Book Trailer and ebook preorder link are below.

Preorder on Amazon

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Epic – Site for Indie Sci Fi/Fantasy Fans

You may not have heard of Epic, but this site is a dirty little secret that shouldn’t be so secret. If you’re a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy then you would love this. You’ll get dates on new releases from independent authors, book reviews, and interviews. They also review movies, tv shows, and games, so it’s really comprehensive. Click on the Epic image to go to the site and add it to your favorites bar. If you write Speculative Fiction, you should get in touch with the Epic Team.

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Join Realm Makers

Hello,
I want to extend an invitation to everyone who loves to write speculative fiction to join Realm Makers. It is a community of Christian writers of speculative fiction. There is an annual conference and online events throughout the year that will help you hone your writing skills and let you know about other authors just like you. Even if you don’t write there is value in joining this community because you’ll learn about authors you didn’t know about. Maybe you can join a launch team to help promote an author’s work in exchange for a free copy or become an intricate part of the publishing process by beta-reading works before publication. Your insights can make a good novel even greater. Click the link below to sign up for a free account, and start connecting with storytellers, marketing experts, editors, literary agents, podcasters, and other fans of speculative fiction today.

Join Realm Makers

This community means a lot to me. I’ve met so many wonderful people through Realm Makers. They are like extended family members to me. If you do join, please look me up and say hello! ~Bryan

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My Writing Process

Everybody who has written a novel has their own way of going about it. This is what has worked for me and it all starts with . . .

The Dreaded Blank Page

There was a huge rainstorm. A massive gray blanket covering the sky dropped billions of buckets of water at once, continuously. I was in a grocery store and had all my stuff in a buggy. Many people were waiting in the foyer for the rain to subside. Not me, I just went right into the rain. There wasn’t any lightning or hail. It was just pouring rain. Yes, I got soaked and no, I didn’t mind. This could be the old soldier in me. I remember standing guard in South Korea as a private in the middle of monsoon season. The thing is that no matter how much rain gear you have on, you’re getting wet.

That’s how I handle my mornings too. I don’t spend too much time snoozing. The way I wake up is by getting my feet on the ground and moving. That is how I get past the blank page. Rough drafts will need to be cleaned up more than once, so while the first pages of a novel are extremely important, I don’t try to get it perfect right out of the gate. I hammer out that opening scene and doll it up later.

How many words a day?

It’s funny, isn’t it? We want to write, so we worry about the math. This is a good motivator. Got to win battles before winning the war. The genre I write usually falls under speculative fiction and the word count for that genre can be 75,000 and up. You may not want to go too far up though. I’m a slacker so I stick with 75K as my target. It’s not a big deal to go over that number. If I’m a little short, no problem because a rough draft will be missing details. So if I want to finish my rough draft in 90 days, the word count is 834 words a day (1250 for 60 days). Here’s the thing, the dreaded blank page is an everyday thing. You may feel like you have no idea what to write next, so I’ll tell you how I work through that next

What to write

That is the question! Here’s the thing. I usually have an idea of where I want to go with the story. Maybe all I have is a compass and a general direction to an interesting destination. With this type of writing, I don’t know what I’ll run into along the way. Authors who write like this are called “pantsers”. They write by the seat of their pants. Other writers make an outline, so rather than just having a compass, they have a map to bring with them. There are pros and cons to each of these methods. If I only have a compass and I’m heading east, expecting to find a mountain to climb (rising action to the climax––), I may find myself at the end of a cliff where a deep chasm separates me from the end of my story. I can see the destination but can’t reach it, so I must choose to backtrack or climb down that cliff. The issue with outlining is a little different. With a map, I may miss out on the cliffs, the rivers, and key sites along the way. I miss out on more adventures.

I tend to employ both methods. I just started writing Almost Paradise. I knew where I wanted to start and where to go immediately following the start, but as far as where it ended, I had no idea where it would take me. But last weekend I had a day where I couldn’t really sit down and work on it. So I picked up a notebook and started to summarize the chapters I have written thus far. When I finished those, I went on to the next chapters. I kept at this, and the results are that I now have an outline for the novel. I may not stick with it entirely. While it is a pretty solid road map, I may take scenic routes along the way. This usually leads to more short story ideas.

So that day when I couldn’t write allowed me to produce material that will give me a boost on days when starting on new chapters. If I’m in the middle of a chapter and have kind of lost my way, what I do is I go back and edit. I may go all the way back to chapter one and start reading it. I’ll fix simple grammar errors of course. I’ll take notes if I feel I must. I may find developmental errors where I wrote illogical things. There are places where things need to be revised and remembered. Details may need to be filled in or removed. More setting. Less setting. Is it important to know what a particular character is thinking at a particular moment? This is very important so if you feel stuck try that. Eventually, you’ll be ready to pick up where you were blazing the trail to the end of the rough draft.

Per Sis Tence

GET ER DONE! They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day. The same goes for a novel. It takes persistent action to complete the work. If you take a week off from writing, you may fall off the wagon and have to trudge along for a while to catch up. When I find myself getting away from my writing goals, I start feeling a need to get back on it. From May 15th through June 16th I had only written a little over 3000 words. That would amount to 36,000 a year. I wasn’t loving my progress, so from June 16th through June 28th, I’ve written almost 10,000 words. What helped me was finally setting a deadline to finish the rough draft.

The Editing

Once I finish a rough draft, I figure it’s not too rough because I had gone back and worked on this and that along the way. Regardless, it needs to happen several times over. It’s not like what I did in school. I don’t write a rough draft, make a few revisions, and then turn it in. I go over everything many times. How many? Depends. I can’t tell you how many times I edited and revised Infernal Fall. I lost count. It’s a good idea to look hard at every single chapter. I work on a synopsis for each chapter as I do this. I don’t just look for grammar errors. I don’t just look for errors. I look for things I should cut and things I should include. If I find myself making a lot of changes, I know I’ll need to go over it again. After I’ve read the entire novel and edited every chapter too many times, I do the unthinkable. I read it all again, reading several chapters together. This helps you find long-range errors such as “Bobby lost his shoes in Chapter 3 so why is he wearing them in Chapter 7?”

Seek Professional Help

Because writing a novel is crazy. What was I thinking? I could’ve written the most wonderful thing I’ve ever read, but it’s imperative to let a real editor get a hold of my story and rip it to shreds before the general public does. Here’s the kicker. Even after all this, I still find more to do. At some point, I have to let go and turn my work loose. Then, for some bonkers reason, I’ll start over with this insanity.

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Woody’s Sweating Bullets Podcast

Earlier this week an old friend of mine invited me to chat on his podcast. The episode is linked below. This is number 92 for him so he’s creeping up on 100, which is a pretty cool landmark. I really appreciated his invitation because I have never done this before. Woody and Michelle do a great job making their podcasts interesting, so feel free to go down this rabbit hole and get to know them. This show is for adults who don’t mind discussing politics and other sensitive topics. I had a great time and look forward to joining the Sweating Bullets Podcast in the future.

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Stone Soup

There is an old story where some travelers came to a village with nothing but a pot and found villagers were reluctant to share any of their food with them. That changes when the travelers fill the pot with water and a stone. Gradually, more and more villagers came out to put in a little bit of their own food to make a meal that not only sufficed the travelers’ hunger but made the community more like a community.

I would like to share some music that I, Joe LaRose, and Ralph Rosenbaum wrote. We were an original rock band called Outraged. My hope is that you and others may contribute to the song in various ways. The lyrics were removed so you could create your own. If you rather not sing, add some lead guitar or keyboard effects. It’s entirely up to you what you want to add. Feel free to have some fun with this. Take it as seriously as you want to. Share it with whoever you want to but be sure to credit me, Joe, and Ralph for what is given. If you’re curious, my original lyrics were about overcoming inner darkness with the light of our souls. I find it very enlightening that we are all bioluminescent creatures, meaning we all shine.

I’d love to hear what you guys come up with. Use some recording device and send me what you come up with. If you want to only share your lyrics feel free to do that. If you put this on youtube or any other platform let me know. I would love to hear it and share it with my friends too. Let your creativity run wild with this. I’m hoping to hear some cool and interesting ideas from you guys. Feel free to send pictures or whatever comes to mind when you hear this.

To help you guys out, the structure was something like this: Bass riff, Opening, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Solo Section, Verse 3, Chorus, Close.

If you’re curious about the key it is E minor.

This won’t be the last time I do this, so if you want to be a part of whatever’s next or if you’re just curious about what others come up with stay tuned. You can send me your attachments via email at bryan@bryantimothymitchell.com. You can leave comments with links to whatever you come up with, but I’ll need to approve those first.

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No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home is my first short story and the prequel to Infernal Fall. It follows a very unfortunate soul on his descent into Hell. Here’s a little taste:

Doug staggered out the front door of Main Street Pub and Grill. The lopsided sidewalk tricked his feet, and he stumbled into the side of a beat-up car. The gun slipped from his grasp and clattered to the asphalt. His heartbeat thumped in his ears and pulsed at the peaks of his temples as if they were volcanoes ready to explode. He blinked hard to keep the world from spinning. Leaning down, he took the weapon and fell forward. The trigger bent, and the gun went off.

Warmth erupted from under his left collarbone. A deep itch needed scratching. He reached in and plucked at his soaked muscle fibers. Each reverberation brought pleasant relief. Rolling to his back, he groaned. Strange tingling sensations zipped up his spine in rapid succession. The taste of blood and stomach acid welled at the back of his mouth. He coughed to clear his throat.

Sirens wailed from downtown. He chuckled because they sounded like children. “Bunch of babies,” he said smiling.

A familiar face popped into his vision. The snitchy bartender had a phone pressed to his ear. “He done shot himself,” he said breathlessly. “He’s bleeding out.”

“Go to Hell,” Doug growled. “I’ll never forgive you for this.”

Those were Doug’s last words.

Something beneath him—beneath the surface—something with hands tugged on his shirt and pulled him through the ground, through solid asphalt. Doug floated in a dark, open space. Slowly he floated upward as if drawn back to his lifeless body. It looked to be lying on a sheet of tinted glass with the snitch standing over him talking into his cellphone. Doug reached for his body, but a strange, shadowy being dropped a rock fell into his hand. The small pebble had massive weight, and Doug couldn’t let go it. He fell away into darkness, away from his body. Light faded until there was nothing.

A short time later, he woke with a throbbing headache. Engulfed in thick smoke, he heaved and coughed. The hot surface burned his hands when he tried to push himself up. A harsh cadence of footsteps approached. Someone snatched his wrist and cuffed him. The metal pinched his skin.

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The Writing Life

I’ve been doing a lot of writing and learning about writing over the years. Most of this has been on the same novel because I keep learning how to improve it. I’m pretty much finished. I promised my editor this, so I am curbing my idea for an epilogue for now. Sooner or later I’ll share it with you, and hopefully, my future works will be more efficiently produced.

Now I haven’t sat behind a computer staring at a screen all this time fleshing this story out. I have a family, career, plans, and a whole slew of other obligations that are constantly filling up my list of things to do. Family comes first and then you got to take care of the things your employer pays you to do.

So naturally, you don’t want to mess up your marriage or your day job for writing a novel, but if you ever plan to finish you got to make time to do it. During the rough draft phase, you’ll need to optimize your time to get the story down. For me, that meant when the kids were in bed. I always made sure that my wife knew what I was up to, so there’d be fewer interruptions. I’d also put a time cap on it. After 20 minutes, I’d stop. If I could get in more time great but otherwise, I need time with my wife too.

Sometimes, I’d get up early to write but found myself wanting to procrastinate with coffee, research, browsing headlines, and all that. But eventually, I sat down and got something done. There were a few times, I wrote until 3 am while everyone was in bed. You have to fit it in. If you’re on a roll and have the opportunity to knock out another leg of the journey go for it.

Now in school, they tell you that after your rough draft, you enter the revision phase. In writing a novel, it’s not just editing typos and grammar. It’s way more than that. You’re looking for logical inconsistencies, recurring words, too much stage direction, formatting issues, the flow of scenes, and a lot more. Unlike school, the revision process can go well beyond two dozen passes before the novel is ready for an editor or a literary agent. Keep in mind, if you’re a novice like me, you may have missed some vital game-changing issues that will make or break your story.

Now I revised for years because I kept learning more about making better characters, keeping tension, and driving the plot forward while the characters are focused on whatever their goals were. I should mention setting as well but you see what I mean. The best thing you can do to set yourself up as a writer is to get your hands on some killer books on writing novels, memoirs, short stories, whatever you want to write, and start doing it.

I handled revision in bursts. At first, it would take me a week to get through a chapter. Then eventually, it took a day. Fast forward to now I can handle it within an hour. Here’s the kicker sometimes you need to revise several chapters in one sitting. When you get to the point of changing a phrase or a word back to something else you have you can pretty much let it go.

Here is where you’d want to queue in a few beta-readers and get some feedback. I’d recommend a local or online writing community. Keep in mind that not all feedback is good. The best feedback you’re going to get is from professional editors, agents, and writing coaches. Go to a writing conference and get some feedback.

After you’ve done all that, and have taken some notes, go back and read that novel a few more times. Ten times should do. After that, then you’re where I’m at. Maybe you’d be picked up by a traditional publisher or agent. Maybe not. But while you’re figuring that out. Take time to write. Agents can take weeks, sometimes months to respond. Same thing with publishers. If you go with an independent publisher or self-publish, it can happen much faster. Don’t let researching all this become a point of procrastination in your writing endeavors.

Somewhere in all this, don’t forget to breathe, live, love, and remember that you are blessed.

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ARTWORK BY JOSEPH OGEARY

Joseph Ogeary is writing and illustrating his graphic novel which may be released in 2021. Thankfully, he’s found time to create illustrations inspired by scenes and characters of Infernal Fall. Below I’ll share a handful of the drawings that will be scattered throughout Infernal Fall and available to everyone who visits me during the book tour.

Infernal Newsletter Subscribers will get special unseen illustrations. Just sayin!

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