How I Spent 7 Months Not Writing my Manuscript

Back in May of 2019, I put in my notice and quit a fantastic job in order to write. From June through the end of the year, I made zero progress on my manuscript. I didn’t even create a manuscript file until January 1st, 2020. While I didn’t start writing the actual novel, I worked on it five days a week, at least four hours a day, with few exceptions. What on earth did I do for seven full months? A lot…

Before I dive in, let me cover two common misconceptions about writers. The first is that we’re glorified bums who sit around all day binge watching (or binge reading) in our PJs waiting for the muse to visit. Sure, there are days that I don’t make it out of yoga pants. There are also days where I’ve uselessly bashed my brain against the keyboard long enough that I give up for the rest of the day. That said, anyone serious about making a career out of writing, writes whenever they can and often on a schedule, not just whenever they feel inspired.

The second misconception is that all writers are struck by some kind of divine inspiration, and if we lock ourselves in a room with a keyboard, the story will flow from our fingertips. Sure, there are some that fit that trope. They’re called pantsers (as in they write by the seat of their pants). Yes, all writers are struck by ideas that excite us and many of us are motivated enough to devote the time and energy to get that work out into the world. Some of us, however, spend a great deal of time agonizing over those ideas before we write much of anything. We’re called plotters.

With the exception of poetry, I’ve always plotted out what I planned to write, whether it was my articles in Target Market Magazine, my screenplay, or my short stories. With this novel, I’ve taken it to an entirely new level. As I get to know more indie writers, I’m beginning to realize that I have an unusually intense process.

So, without further ado, here’s how you spend the first seven months of writing a novel if you’re an obsessive plotter like me.

Step 1: Ignore the Old Bullshit

If you read the origin story on the About page, you know that the idea for this novel is not new. It’s been rattling around in my brain for over ten years. That’s ten years of stops and starts, emails to myself in the middle of the night, random notes in notebooks, old outlines and the like. When I decided to really commit to writing this thing, I wanted to give myself the best shot to write something great. So I took everything that I had worked on for the last ten years and shoved it aside. I had the key details in my head so I ignored what didn’t stick and tried to dive in with a somewhat fresh perspective.

Step 2: Research and Apply

Next, I dug out any textbooks and notes I had from film and writing college courses. There were some real gems in there. I also reread some of the books I had on plot, storytelling, and the film industry. Wait… film? This would probably be a good time to mention that my long game is to write and sell this story as a screenplay, but more on that in some other post.

I bought several more books and devoured them. While I was reading up on the craft, I started re-plotting my story. I began with index cards and laid them out on the floor in my office. At first, I only had major plot points, but started filling in gaps as I went. This was a fun step.

Inspiration from some of the greats… plus a little motivational self help content for good measure.

If you’re a writer and haven’t done so already, I highly recommend reading “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield!

Step 3: Outline, Edit, Outline, Edit, Outline…

Once I felt like I had the story pretty well plotted out, I dug through my old outlines and ideas. Some of it was well aligned with my “fresh” take, but other stuff was bad. Really bad. Like futuristic real estate company bad. Once I junked what needed to be junked and stole anything salvageable, I started my outlines. This took me months and many, many revisions. I’d say, during this phase, I had at least 5 iterations of the plot outline. On average, these ran about 8-10 pages each. I also created separate outlines for character arcs and backstories. That’s right. I created complete outlines of events that never happen and are never talked about in the book. Even though it was a hassle, I got to the point where I really knew the people of this world. I told you I was obsessive, didn’t I?

Step 4: The Treatment(s)

Since this is a detective story, I had to make dead sure that a few things worked with the audience. The most important of which was the case. I need my audience to be solving the case with Jake, not before, or not well after. They can’t be too ahead and definitely can’t be too lost. I also wanted to make sure the characters and plot worked for people. That’s where the treatment came in. Basically, a treatment is a short story version of the complete novel. It includes all major characters, key scenes, and important details that the story need to work cohesively. If the treatment bombs, there are major flaws in the story structure or characters. The goal of this step is to uncover any of those landmines before I have a 90,000 word document to try to patch up.

I wrote two different treatments. The first was a bit flat, and when it came down to it, I didn’t have enough fun with it. For the second take, I reworked some key things. Almost all of the major plot points and twists were the same, but the way they unfolded was wildly different in many instances. I also added a few new characters. What a difference it made. It was no quick process but it was worth it. I had a 42 page, 23,000 word treatment to show for it. After finishing the second version of the treatment, I felt like I really had something… but there was only one way to know for sure. And, no, it wasn’t to start writing the novel.

Step 5: Beta Readers

I wanted to make sure this thing was air tight before I dove in and began writing the 80,000 - 100,000 word manuscript, so I decided to pass the treatment on to several Beta readers. I gave them a briefing on the format, mostly focusing on the fact that the novel itself would be far more detailed and nearly quadruple the length. I got some fantastic feedback and was thrilled to hear that folks enjoyed the story and wanted MORE! They also didn’t find any major plot holes, which was a huge relief. I took careful notes of any hang-ups, questions or points of clarification and prepped for the next step… another outline!

Step 6: Revise and Outline

Over the course of writing the treatment, the story had shifted. There were new scenes, different spins, new characters, and some plot adjustments. The affliction of the plotter is strong in me, so before I gave myself permission to start actually writing, I made myself write the novel outline. This was the grandaddy of all outlines. Not only did it include every scene and every major detail that needed to unfold within that scene, it also tracked the emotional changes and key conflicts for each scene (thanks a lot, Save the Cat).

This step was the biggest drag of the entire process. It felt painfully administrative, which it was. It was one final roadblock between me and finally writing. More than anything, I wanted to sit in front of my computer and let the scenes that I had worked so hard on start flowing. This felt like the exact opposite. By the time I had finished, I had a 21 page outline to work with, which now serves as my main guide.

The last few days were the worst. I think there was a part of me that was also nervous about really diving in and actually writing. Would I be able to turn this well-polished idea into an entertaining and suspenseful story?

Step 7: Start to Write

On January 1st, I finally created a document titled “The Outer Range Manuscript.” I sat in front of the empty document and felt myself starting to hang up. This was everything I had been prepping for and I was stuck from the first word. I forced out the first few lines, then caught my stride. Since then, I’ve written over 31,000 words, which puts me at an average of 1,476 words per day. I finally get to experience the feeling of the story pouring out of me. Some people might think that the hell I put myself through at the onset would be stifling, but I feel the opposite. I find it freeing. I know the world, the story, the characters. As the story flows onto the page, I know that the structure is tight, the characters have solid arcs, and each scene is packed with conflict. Now I get to tell this story in the best way possible.

Regardless of how this all turns out, it’s already been a wild ride!