The Only Creative Writing Manual You'll Ever Need

by D.A. Adams

This is the only creative writing manual you'll ever need.

Chapter One - Prewriting

Come up with the seed of an idea. Ponder on it; think about it; dream about it. Get to know your characters and listen to them. They'll tell you the story. Do some research to learn about the subjects you'll need to know to build your world. If you need an explanation as to why that's important, you have no business trying to write fiction. Also, read. A lot.

Build as much of an outline as you need to get started. Do what works for you. If you don't know yet, do something and see how it goes. If that doesn't work, scrap it and try something else. Keep all your notes; bookmark internet pages; scribble on napkins; text yourself. Have some kind of plan before you start writing.

Chapter Two - Writing

Find the self-discipline to write every day, at least four or five days a week. Set realistic weekly page goals and meet them. Always remember, if you create one page a day every day five days a week, at the end of the year, you'll have a complete rough draft. Two pages, and you can write two books a year. So stop making excuses and go write. Don't wait for next November. Start today. Try to write at the same time and place if you can. If that doesn't work for you, write when and where you can.

Don't worry about mistakes. You're going to make them. Lots of them. If you worry about mistakes you'll never finish anything. Just write. Allow yourself to take chances and fail. Write stupid crap; write incoherent nonsense; write long-winded, poetic sentences full of symbolism; write short, declarative sentences; write awful dialogue. Just write and don't think about it.

Listen to your characters and write what they tell you. Don't interrupt them; damn sure, don't contradict them; listen to them. They know the story better than you ever will. Trust them.

Chapter Three - Rewriting

Let someone read your rough draft and rip it to pieces. Some people prefer working one-on-one; others prefer writing groups. Do what works for you. Let them bleed all over it and put your ego in check. Your ego is stupid and selfish and doesn't care about your story. Look closely at the feedback; ponder it; weigh it. Fix what you agree with. Keep what you don't believe needs changing as long as it's not your stupid ego talking.

Find all of that crap and nonsense and terrible dialogue you let yourself write and fix it. Make it sound like you're telling the story to your best friend. Polish. Polish some more. Put it away for a few weeks and then polish even more. Care about the quality of what you created. Have some pride and passion about your work. Love it like a child.

Chapter Four - Publishing

Good luck. Don't get discouraged.

Chapter Five - Promoting

Pester the hell out of everyone you know to read your book. Repeat often. Be proud of what you've done. Make others want to read it. Or tell them it's not for them. Sometimes that works, too.

Chapter Six - Repeating

Repeat chapters one through five until your brain deteriorates too much to continue. Then, retire.

Epilogue

This is all you need to know. Don't waste $70,000 on graduate school. Read some good books instead. Especially nonfiction. Nonfiction will feed your brain better than fiction sometimes. If anyone tries to sell you a creative writing manual, ask them why they have to make a living selling creative writing manuals. If anyone tries to tell you they know the one correct way to write, slap the shit out of them and never listen to anything they say again. That person is either really stupid or a cult leader. Don't waste time on either. If your ego ever tells you you've learned all you need to know about writing, tell it to go to hell. Your ego is stupid.

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D.A. Adams was born in Florida but was raised in East Tennessee. He received a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of Memphis in 1999 and has taught college English for over a decade. His first novel, The Brotherhood of Dwarves, was released in 2005 and has been described as a solid, honest work about camaraderie, bravery, and sacrifice, a very personal journey, more interested in the ways that a person is changed by life's events than in epic battles and high magic. In 2008, the sequel, Red Sky at Dawn, was released to the exaltation that this novel thunders along, at times with dizzying speed. The action is visceral and imaginative without being gratuitous. Book three, The Fall of Dorkhun, came out in 2011, followed by book four, Between Dark and Light, in 2012.

In terms of writing style, Adams exhibits an effortless narrative voice and a masterful balance between richly detailed descriptions and tightly worded minimalism. The pacing of his stories is breathtaking, with relentless action and captivating plot twists that keep readers riveted page after page. But his true talent as a writer lies in character development. Readers find themselves empathizing with, fearing for, and cheering on the characters as they overcome their personal shortcomings and grow as fully rendered individuals. Adams is also the father of two wonderful sons and, despite his professional accomplishments, maintains that they are his greatest achievement in life. He resides in East Tennessee.

Website  http://daadams.com/ 
Google+  https://plus.google.com/u/0/110672225013868056383/posts
Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/authordaadams
Twitter  @biggunsalex

[Link] The only creative writing manual you’ll ever need.

This is the only creative writing manual you’ll ever need.

Chapter One – Prewriting

Come up with the seed of an idea. Ponder on it; think about it; dream about it. Get to know your characters and listen to them. They’ll tell you the story. Do some research to learn about the subjects you’ll need to know to build your world. If you need an explanation as to why that’s important, you have no business trying to write fiction. Also, read. A lot.

Build as much of an outline as you need to get started. Do what works for you. If you don’t know yet, do something and see how it goes. If that doesn’t work, scrap it and try something else. Keep all your notes; bookmark internet pages; scribble on napkins; text yourself. Have some kind of plan before you start writing.

Chapter Two – Writing

Find the self-discipline to write every day, at least four or five days a week. Set realistic weekly page goals and meet them. Always remember, if you create one page a day every day five days a week, at the end of the year, you’ll have a complete rough draft. So stop making excuses and go write. Don’t wait for next November. Start today. Try to write at the same time and place if you can. If that doesn’t work for you, write when and where you can.

Don’t worry about mistakes. You’re going to make them. Lots of them. If you worry about mistakes you’ll never finish anything. Just write. Allow yourself to take chances and fail. Write stupid crap; write incoherent nonsense; write long-winded, poetic sentences full of symbolism; write short, declarative sentences; write awful dialogue. Just write and don’t think about it.

Listen to your characters and write what they tell you. Don’t interrupt them; damn sure, don’t contradict them; listen to them. They know the story better than you ever will. Trust them.

Continue reading: http://daadams.com/2012/12/13/creative-writing-ramblings/

[Link] D.A. Adams on the Solitary Endeavor of Writing

by D.A. Adams

This is my opinion and nothing more.  I don’t typically write advice to other writers or aspiring writers because it feels too pretentious on my part.  Also, the world is already full of authorities who spend the majority of their time and energy telling others how to write, but this particular topic is rather important to me, so here goes:

Writing at its essence is a solitary endeavor, one of the most intimately solitary activities a person can do.  If you need applause and cheers to motivate you to create, you should be a musician or a stage actor, not a writer.  Live performers have live audiences.  Writers spend the vast majority of their creative time alone staring at a computer screen or notepad, allowing ideas to flow through them onto their medium, with virtually no feedback from anyone until after the project is complete.  This solitude can lasts weeks, sometimes even months or years, before an author gets feedback on their project, and usually that first round of feedback is from an editor or first reader who points out most of your mistakes.  It can take literally years before your work reaches its intended audience, if it ever does.

If you need instant gratification, prose writing is not the creative endeavor for you.

Continue reading; http://daadams.com/2012/08/21/tuesday-morning-ramblings-33/

[Link] On World Building with D.A. Adams

Today I have a great author with us to talk about World Building.  D.A. Adams, created an amazing world for his book series, The Brotherhood of Dwarves so I figured he would be a great author to chat about World building. 

On World Building with D.A. Adams

Please, allow me to preface everything I’m about to say with this disclaimer:  I don’t consider myself an expert or an authority on world building, so take all of my advice with a grain of salt.  That said, I do believe there are some paramount fundamentals for creating a new space that all writers should adhere to.  Most importantly, all writers, regardless of genre or style must partake in some form of world building because all fiction involves inventing an alternate reality in which their story takes place.  Even if the story is set in the “real world,” any attempt at capturing the essence of our reality will fall short because our world is simply too large, too complex, and too dynamic ever to be rendered flawlessly in any medium.  The best any writer can hope to achieve is creating a reality in their story that the audience will accept and believe.

To do this, the foundation of the world must be grounded in verisimilitude, or a likeness to reality.  Regardless of how far-fetched or different from our universe the fictional world may seem, for it to be trusted in and believed by the audience, there must be something that connects it to our reality.  An audience will believe in a magical school in an alternate dimension where kids play a form of lacrosse on flying broomsticks if there is something that they can relate to, such as the underdog overcoming the bully.  The audience will believe in an all powerful energy that certain people can tap into for incredible powers if there is something attached to it like the tempering of selfish desires.  So when you are creating the laws of your world, you must find something that grounds it in reality so the audience will believe you when you bend a law or two of our actual reality.

Also, it’s imperative that societies remain modeled after something that exists in nature, not necessarily human societies, but something that follows a believable order of organization.  Perhaps, you model your society on the hierarchy of ants or maybe the reproductive cycle of a gourd.  Either is fine as long as you create this hierarchy and remain true to it.  This organization and structure should be thought through and researched before the actual writing takes place.  Otherwise, you run the risk of contradicting yourself during the telling of your story.  There are exceptions to this, of course, as part of writing is discovery, but for me, it’s important to know all of my cultures, races, and societies before I begin telling the story.  Another important factor here is the “black sheep” or “renegade” phenomenon.  In human societies, there is always a counter-culture that defies authority, regardless of how effective that authority may be.  You must keep this in mind whenever creating a human-like society or you risk creating a flat, two-dimensional, unrealistic culture that your audience may not fully believe.  At this point of world building, research is crucial.  Please, let me repeat, research is critical.

Continue reading: http://alisbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/guest-post-world-building-with-da-adams.html

D. A. Adams and the (Lot More Than Seven) Dwarves

Alex Adams (or D.A. as his book covers know him) is my kind of people. Salt of the earth, and all that good ol' fashioned stuff. That's why when I met him, I completely expected him to be a completely different kind of person. He writes a strong traditional fantasy epic, and yet, I've never had a single conversation about Tolkien with him. Just about the craft, his kids, the joys and annoyances of convention travel, etc.

And he wears a mean red shirt too.

But enough of me man-crushing on Alex. Let's let him speak for himself.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

My latest release is “The Fall of Dorkhun,” book three in the Brotherhood of Dwarves series. It’s the pivotal point of the five book series and follows Roskin back home to his kingdom, which has been besieged by war. There are many unusual twists and a surprise ending that sets up what’s to come in books four and five. So far, the feedback I’ve received from my readers has been pretty amazing.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I’m interested in camaraderie, self-sacrifice, redemption, and perseverance, so each book revolves around those themes. Also, I’m trying to allow each main character to grow and mature as unique individuals, so they often take the story off in unexpected tangents. There’s also a sub-context of the importance of interpersonal relationships over materialism, but I try not to be too heavy-handed with it.

What would be your dream project?

Honestly, this series is my dream project. I love these characters and this world I’ve created. Working on this series has been the most rewarding aspect of my career, and I‘m not sure how I’ll feel when it’s complete.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

If I could go back and re-launch the first book in the series, I would’ve bypassed offset printing completely and gone straight to Lightning Source as my printer. Their technology has revolutionized small press and offer a fairly level playing field in terms of distribution. That also would have allowed me to start with a color cover, which was my biggest hindrance with the first couple of printings of book one. A lot of people hated, with religious fervor I might add, the simplicity of that cover, but it was a product of budget limitations.

That said, I’m exceptionally grateful to be with Seventh Star Press, now, so I probably wouldn’t make the change even if I could because at SSP, I’ve found a good home.

What inspires you to write?

Not to be too cliché, but honestly, my children. I want to leave something in this world that they can point to and take pride in that their old man wrote these books. Also, I’m inspired by music, probably more so than even prose. At heart, I wanted to be a Honky Tonk singer, but I happen to be a much better writer than singer, so listening to quality music, from all genres, moves me to want to write better books

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Harry Crews as much as anyone; there’s a grit and realism in his works that I strive to match. Also, I went through a big Hemingway phase, so a lot of my minimalist approach is because of him. Hermann Hesse was another major spark for me as a young writer. His imaginative meanderings opened up my own creativity at a crucial point in my intellectual development. In terms of fantasy literature, C.S. Lewis is probably my biggest influence, even though my stories are nothing like his. He was my gateway into fantasy, so I always feel indebted to him for opening that door.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

Good writing is a blend of both. The artistic side is fueled by the imagination and creativity, but even the most imaginative works need to be grounded in scientific reality to some degree. Also, because writing a learned craft, there’s an element of science to the construction of plot, tension, character development, and narrative voice. However, without fresh approaches to these techniques through artistry, writing becomes formulaic and predictable.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

I have a fairly active and growing blog, called The Ramblings of D.A. Adams, where I write entries on whatever moves me that day. Recently, I divested completely from politics and have tried to focus more on my personal growth as a human being. The reader response has been absolutely amazing, (Sean, if you want to mention the New Breed story, feel free to toss it in here, too. I don’t want to presume anything.) And of course, I’m working on book four in the Brotherhood series, hoping to finish the rough manuscript by late summer so I can begin my revision process. With any luck, we’ll have it released by next spring at the launch of convention season.