New Category On My Site: "How I Do What I Do"
Last Update: January 14, 2015

Hi folks. I've started this new category to show readers the process I go through when I'm writing a book. Things like setting, book title, characters, outline, etc.

I thought I would ask the WA community three things:

  1. Do you think visitors would be interested in this "behind the scenes look"?
  2. Do you have suggestions for posts, what would you like to read? (please remember I write fiction but this would work for non-fiction as well)
  3. Would this work for your website?

This is about the lessons here that tell us to "show, not tell." I'm going to try this out and see how it works.

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dhayman Premium
Have a book in the works, so that would be great.
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Rick Jantz Premium
@dhayman
That's great and I wish you all the best with your book. It is so satisfying to see your work published and even better when people like it.
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goodsuccess Premium
My answers Rick. Yes, yes and yes again. I would love to see the "behind the scenes" process.
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Rick Jantz Premium
@goodsuccess
Thanks. I agree that people like to see the how of something. I think it shows them that they can do it, too. It's not as hard as people tend to make it.
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Larry MaC Premium
Yes I think your idea is good.
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Rick Jantz Premium
@Larry MaC
Thanks Larry. One thing I've been working on this year is to ask people what they want so I appreciate your comment.
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TJ Books Premium
My brain died as far as novel writing goes so i am not writing anything longer than my thumb now. lol John
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Rick Jantz Premium
@TJ Books
Keeps the juices moving though, right. You're still adding lots of value here, John, so thanks.
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IMc Premium
You could get a lot of mileage from that. Writing a book it something that a lot of people aspire to do . So knowing where to start or how to structure a book, fiction or no-fiction, is bound to be of interest.How do you come up with names for characters? Do you build a back story for each character in your mind before you start writing?

It'd be possible to have a whole niche site just on the writing process for someone's first book. .
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Rick Jantz Premium
@IMc
I know these are insights I look for, especially if I have a specific problem like point of view or mannerisms. I sometimes take too long deciding on names but sometimes you just have to have that perfect name. Other times they just come because I know what type of character I want. And then I do develop their back story. I always have their bio in front of me when I'm first introducing them.
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IMc Premium
@Rick Jantz
So, that's the sort of info an aspiring writer wants. Then expand on it - where do influences for their bio come from? People you know? Characters you've seen elsewhere, in movies or on TV? There's a few more blog posts just in this.
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Rick Jantz Premium
@IMc
For the book I'm working on I'm using pictures of celebrities to visualize the character. It's working, too so I'll be writing about doing this.
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IMc Premium
@Rick Jantz
That's another example of stuff people want to know. Stop posting here. Get writing but think about each step of the process that you now take for granted. It's new to the rest of us. We want to know more.
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