The Writing Process of R.J. Batla

I’m starting a new blog series on my writing process. This series will give you some insight on how I go about writing and publishing all my books, for anyone that is curious or wanting to write and publish a book of their own.

It will also help me with my writing process, as I will actually put the process down on paper.

Right now it’s about 15 blog posts long, with quite a bit of detail that I want to add to each one.

Starting Off

The first thing I decide is what I’m going to be writing: is this in a current series, or a completely new one? The process will be different, as there is a lot more set up with a new series. Is this the first book in a series? Is it the second book? Is it a short story? Full-length novel? All these factors will affect how the entire writing process goes, so before I set down to really work on something, I want to have an idea on what story/type of book I want to write.

Genre: typically I write in fantasy, but I’ve also been working on urban fantasy. These two are similar but different. Genre will determine the type of book and everything that goes with it – meaning an epic fantasy book may be longer because you need more world building vs. a book set in the ‘real’ world.

Timeline

This will be partially a function of the length of the book/story I’m writing. In general it takes around six months to get a book out and fully published, give or take a month or two. For me anyway. Knowing that, I try to set out my timeline on getting all my steps in the right order and at the right time to make the book a success. Since this is a part-time thing for me, all these timelines are adjustable, but it helps to have everything on paper so I know what I need to do when, or at least what I need to do next.

When To Write

The best time to write is different for everyone. The main goal is to set aside some time, be it in the morning, at lunch, or at night, and testing need to see what time works best for you and your schedule.

For me, I do a combination of all depending on the day, but mostly it’s at night after the rest of the family has gone to sleep.

Another tool I found is dictation – it really speeds up my writing and I have found that I like to take a walk and dictate a story. It really helps my thinking and I can keep ideas flowing while also getting exercise.

How To Write

This kinda goes with when to write, as when you write my determine how you have to write. Most people nowadays will type on the computer, but it can be just as valuable to write with a pen and paper to get your ideas out, especially the brainstorming or outline phase. You can always transfer it to the computer later.

As I just said, dictation is also another avenue the people can use. I found a valuable, but it does take some getting used to.

Computer Programs For Writing

There are a lot of different articles out there that talk about which writing program is the best, but there are really three that stick out: Google Docs, Word, and Scrivener.

Lots of different people use each of these programs, and there are advantages and disadvantages to all three.

For me, I just stick with good old Microsoft Word. I haven’t played much with Google Docs, but I did purchase Scrivener and try to use it. It is a GREAT tool for writers, as is software that is built specifically for writers. That being said, and everyone who use the programs as is, there is a definite learning curve associated with the program. For me, that was a big stickler, and I did not have patience to learn the new program, so I stuck with word and have been “making it work” for me.

 

That’s all for today!

Next In Series:

Idea generation and Outlining

Keep it real, but keep it fun!

R.J. Batla