The Process

The Interviewer: “RB, some questions.”

RB: “Listening.”

The Interviewer: “I was reading a blog article from another author who-”

RB: “You mean blog post.”

The Interviewer: “Yes… I prefer article. Regardless, the young man mentioned how he could write about five hundred to seven words a day, but later he cut half of those words because it didn’t…work. Do you understand?”

RB: “Yes.”

Interviewer: “Can you elaborate? Please?”

RB: “The writing process isn’t as simple as putting words down and *puff* magic you have a book. It’s more like putting down words. Edit words. Add more words. Edit words. Make it pretty. Make it flow. Make it thoughtful. Make it engaging. Add more words. Edit words. Then critique. Edit more. Rewrite. Critique. Finalize words. Ooops! Check the count. Short story? Too long. Novel? Too short. But I want a novel. Add more words. Edit. Double check. Triple check. Get other eyes to check. Beta readers. Editors. Finalize.”

The Interviewer: “Amazing. Truly.”

RB: “Not nearly as glamorous as some make it out to be, right?”

The Interviewer: “Agreed. So how many words can you write a day?”

RB: “About 10,000 with no interruptions. Less if given only half a day.”

The Interviewer: “10,000!”

RB: “Let me remind you, I went to gradschool where writing a 10,000 word paper was homework and I needed to do a lot more research to those than I have to do with my books. Most of those papers were done in a pinch. So I have had plenty of practice in the work count department. Now whether those works are kept in the final manuscript… Well, that’s another story…”

RBH

Tagged: Angel vs. Demon, creative writing, editing, fiction, R B Holbrook, writing process