I’ve had to admit I’m a discovery writer. I admire those that can write outlines and stick to them because it’s a superpower I’ve never been able to achieve. My first book took eight years, give or take six months, to get to where I am in Savior of the Damned. Part of it was lack of experience, but part of it was learning how to operate as a discovery writer too.
That’s not to say I don’t use outlines at all. Right now, I’m mapping the important bits to remember, and it’s working well. I have a basic structure that has all the major points I need to incorporate while also discovering things as I go. So far this is the fastest I’ve gotten work done, and I’m going to keep doing it.
Another tip I’ve found helpful is to outline a chapter or short as I go. Noting down the plot points and twists as I go allows me to still discover the story while also sticking to a formula of sorts. If it’s a short story I’ll write the beginning, outline the rest, and let it sit while I work on other stuff. Brains know what they’re doing more often than not, and by outlining it and walking away I can work on ideas in the back of my head. Letting the story run in the background while I work on other things helps me immensely.
My first drafts, because of the above, are lean when I’m done. The shortest was 30k words and the longest was about 50k. It’s because, if I get stuck somewhere, I drop a tag to search and fill in later. I personally use MORE INFO as the searchable tag. It allows me to keep up momentum and it makes it easier to fill in those spaces later since I know where I’m going. Savior of the Damned was my leanest first draft at just over 30k words, but the version I sent my beta readers was just over 82k. I might be adding more later but we’ll see what they have to say.
My preference for my own personal reading material is more fast-paced. I tend to lose interest in stories that are slow because, for me, they drag. As a result, my writing reflects that. Striking a balance between action and breathing points has been a hard fight but so far it looks like I’ve got it down for this book, which is exciting. Pacing is a place I’ve always struggled with, and it’s nice to hear that people are enjoying that along with the story itself.
As I wait for feedback, I’m working on the first draft of the sequel to Savior of the Damned, which I am extremely excited to be able to finally tell. It’s a story I’ve been aching to tell for fifteen years now. The issue was I lacked the skillset to tell it until now. Having that skillset under my belt will not only benefit the current work but I can go back and fix the previous novels I wrote, which are also stories I am excited to tell.
If you’re looking for advice, my best advice is to write. It’s through writing you discover your own unique working style, which no one can tell you how to do. Writing is the best way you can learn because you’re learning through experience. College can help, and other avenues of learning can help, but the best teacher by far is to just sit and write. They say it takes one million words to hone your craft enough to publish. I don’t think it took me quite one million words to tell Savior of the Damned, but it certainly took a lot. And remember, you can always put it aside to fix for later. Great stories are worth the effort it takes to rewrite after all.