Comments on: Editor: Terry Brooks

By: Shawn Speakman

Shawn Speakman — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:01:56 +0000

Chris: Thanks for the encouragement! Like I said, I told myself I would be perfectly candid about my trials in following this dream. I want to catalog my endeavors for my own diary-like viewing, but I also want to try to lift the veil of mystery that surrounds writers trying to break into the publishing business. There is a lot of mis-information out there and I am hoping I can dispel some of it.
If people are even reading this, that is! haha
Steven: Nice to know I’m not the only outliner out there! And yes, I still do web development. It’s still a hobby and I don’t do it to make money really but it appeals to a side of my creative nature I can’t scratch in any other way — even with writing. I do everything by hand and I should take some real classes in it!

By: Steven Till

Steven Till — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:25:07 +0000

I agree with you on outlining. I had no written plan to the first draft of my first novel, and I ended up trashing the entire thing after I finished and starting from scratch.
The second time around, I had a written plan to direct me throughout the writing process. I still trashed a lot of that draft too, but at least I was able to keep more of the core concepts and plot lines for my third re-write.
That’s cool that you’re in web development. Do you still do that? Basically I’m a light weight developer with more of a focus on internet marketing. I know HTML and CSS well, can edit javascript and other languages like PHP but not write the code from scratch. Currently, my day job has me developing SharePoint portals for internal use.

By: Iron Elf

Iron Elf — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:56:57 +0000

Hi, Shawn:
It’s rare and welcome to see an author treat the writing process with as much candor as you have here. There’s a tendency for ego to get in the way, but you’ve vaulted that hurdle and instead given readers an insight into the highs and lows of turning a dream into a reality. The fact that you can do that (and it’s no easy feat to reveal your aspirations in public) suggests you’ll be equally adept at taking Terry’s suggestions and revising The Dark Thorn into a much improved book, and that’s the whole point.
Cheers,
Chris Evans

By: Shawn Speakman

Shawn Speakman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:37:18 +0000

Kyle: Thanks, man. I actually handled it semi-okay. Terry did exactly what I was hoping he would. Ralph told me Friday he doesn’t have time to take a book through several drafts, so for Terry to aid me in this way makes my year, pretty much. The good thing: Terry would have told me to just start over if he thought there was nothing there. Or he would have told me to get another job because, “Shawn, man, you just suck at writing.” He’s forthright like that, thankfully. So I think I have something but it’s just going to take a bit more work to bring it to the point a publisher can’t say NO to it.
Pete: Thanks! Gonna keep it up! *grins*

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:18:55 +0000

Sounds like great progress, Shawn. A second set of eyes is always great. If they happen to be Mr. Brooks’s eyes, well, that must be very, very helpful. And encouraging. Keep it up!

By: Kyle M.

Kyle M. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:38:01 +0000

Wow – what a fantastic article, Shawn! Thanks for sharing. I have to say, as I was reading it, I thought about what it must have been like to receive that email. Just the first ten seconds or so must have been tough, but after thinking it over and especially with Terry calling to follow up, I have to admit that his way of telling you was incredibly encouraging. I’m glad to read in your comment above that you’re still jazzed and ready to rock ‘n’ roll. And it’s awesome that Terry offered you such honest advice. This has all the makings of a really cool story that you’re going to be able to tell for a long time to come.

By: Shawn Speakman

Shawn Speakman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:30:38 +0000

My outline process is fairly extensive… well… more extensive than some but probably not as extensive as others. Since The Dark Thorn is set within our world and within our history, I had to do a lot of research.
While I was doing that research, which took me about two months, the story itself was growing from a seed into a nebulous entity on its own. I knew the beginning and the end. I knew six or seven of the key plots points between. I knew the characters and how they were to develop. So when I sat down to outline it I already had a good idea of what the story was to be.
My outlines are fairly detailed. I label the chapter number. I put down the POV the chapter is told in. I put down the setting. I put down the key events that are to happen in the chapter. I even put down dialog that comes to me that is necessary to move the story forward. All in all, each chapter receives probably two large paragraphs, some shorter, some longer.
This is pretty much how Terry does it too. I used to be a “free writer,” shirking all outlines, but then I read Sometimes the Magic Works late in college, tried outlining a 20 page paper, and discovered it was so much easier for me to write in a logical way. So I blame Terry. I took that experience into The Dark Thorn right from the beginning, so I didn’t “just start writing.” I actually had a purpose to what I was doing and knew the foreshadowing that was needed early on for later in the book.
Most writers, I think, have a firm grasp of their book’s beginnings, by the way. That’s not usually the hard part because that beginning is usually well thought out. It’s when a writer gets into later chapters that they either write themselves into a box or need a deux ex machina to get out. This is why I outline — so that doesn’t happen.
As for meeting Terry, that is a fairly long story.
The short of it: I offered my services as a web developer for his official website and he agreed.
The long of it: You can read it HERE.
All of this, of course, is great fun. I have a great deal more work to accomplish, but at least I have been given some great direction from a great teacher. It’s what I’ve craved from the beginning of this and I’m happy Terry was the one to initially deliver it.

By: Steven Till

Steven Till — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:17:54 +0000

I’m curious as to your process of outlining. Are your outlines usually very detailed or are they broad in scope? Was it something you did before writing The Dark Thorn the first time, or did you just start writing and allow the story to unfold as you went?
Also, how did you and Terry meet? It’s impressive to have someone of that caliber reading your work.