Levi and me at RavenCon in Richmond, VA
Mark Covington of the James River Writers group recently did an interview with me that he posted on the group’s site. The James River Writers group, centered in Richmond, Virginia, is a terrific organization which sponsors monthly readings and signings for regional writers and numerous workshops and social events. Here’s an excerpt from the interview, some comments about my daily writing routine:
“I do nearly all of my writing on my commuter train to and from my job in Washington, D.C. Before moving to Northern Virginia, I did all my writing in coffee shops. Having a cup of coffee handy is helpful.
“Also very helpful is writing on an old laptop or palmtop computer which doesn’t provide access to the Internet. I know myself too well; if I were to try writing on a computer which had Internet access, I would spend 90% of my writing time screwing around.
“I used to head into large projects with firm notions of only how to begin the book and how to end it. However, I’ve found that to be a dangerous system for me because I tend to over-write a good bit. If I don’t plot out my middle, I can easily end up taking a couple of years writing a 200,000 word manuscript which I then have to cut back by 40%. So, nowadays, I outline my books rather thoroughly before starting them. I allow myself to wander away from my outline whenever my imagination heads me in another direction, but I like having the outline there as a safety rope.”
