Hello Curious Readers!
Today I’d like to do a sort of self interview detailing my writing process and what goes into a Jason Barat piece of work. I’m writing this because I believe it would be great for authors to be more vocal about their process and what it takes to get a book done from start to finish. Please note that I believe there are no wrong answers in writing.
The Short Story
I first started my writing journey with short stories. A novel is long, really long! It takes a lot of work to get a full length novel, a goal line I’ve barely passed myself. In order to not drive myself crazy with outlines, logs, and my own brain saying “you can’t do this” I decided to write shorter works. These gave me something to show people and say “Look I wrote this story” which in itself is a huge confidence booster. What it also did was help me figure out which stories people liked the most and more importantly which stories I enjoyed writing and believe have room for expansion into a novella or novel. I then took my short stories and complied them into an anthology which was my first publication, Curious Tales of a Warped Reality.
The Brain Storming
A lot of writers make extensive outlines for their novels which is a very valid and time tested method for writing, this works great for a lot of people. I myself have ADHD and OCD which makes me a little obsessive over details. Knowing this about myself I would spend more time writing the outline than the novel just fighting with my own brain. Rather what I do is read my short story and think “what’s the next logical jump” or “how can I take this idea and make it a full length story”. From there I simply day dream.
Do I think this is the best way to get ready for a project? Honestly no, I’d write faster if I had an outline but for me, outlining would just be a distraction. I really just keep it in my brain for months until I start writing. It’s also how I know it’s a good idea, when my mind can’t let go.
The Novella/Novel
For June Day I literally copy and pasted the short story as a prologue then time jumped. From there I had a vision of how I wanted each arc to go and started writing out the path one chapter at a time. The hardest part of drafting for me was character names and this might be where I should actually do a little light outlining to save time in the future with what I want them to be called.
As the story progressed there were times I need to pivot or add new things which was never a problem for me personally. After months for sitting on an idea (June Day was years, 2023-2025) the novel does just flow out of my finger tips onto the screen. Is it fast? I think so. By the time I’m ready to write I have the core of the story mapped out like most would outline.
Editing
Here is the section where people are going to be very divided. For Curious Tales of a Warped Reality my Mom did 100% of the edits for me (she’d point them out and I’d correct them). For June Day I used a combination of tools ranging from Grammerly to ChatGPT to help with edits but I’d like to be perfectly clear, I do not prompt then copy/paste or allow AI to generate my writing for me. I do understand the environmental impact of AI and the concerns over stolen writing by some AI LLMs. If you choose to do it this way you should also know AI is not as accurate as some people think it is and you still need a human editor, but it does save a ton of time. After the help of our AI overlords it went back to my Mom for a final proof read.
Beta Readers
The next step is beta readers. Since my Mom acts as my editor she is also my first beta reader and a lot of her suggestions are taken and implemented into my work. I then try to find 2-3 friends that are willing to read it and get some short blurbs for marketing as well as needed feedback for the final product.
Cover Design
If you choose to self publish like I do then you’re going to need a cover. You can use AI if you want but AI will not get the text placement right or do that great a job in my opinion. Not like a human can do. For Curious Tales of a Warped Reality and for The Infinite Man (coming soon) I created the covers using packs I bought off Humble Bundle (just keep an eye on their bundle deals) and adding the text myself in photoshop, then painstakingly lining it up by uploading to KDP over and over and using the guide lines. It sounds harder than it is.
Admittedly, I did use ChatGPT for the June Day cover. The plan was to hopefully make enough to hire someone but that didn’t pan out so I’m determined to redo it with the human touch. That cover for some reason just stumped me but I have a good concept idea to redo it.
While I have years of photoshop experience as a hobby (I’m no where near as good as a seasoned pro though) you have options. Sites like Fivver where you can commission someone is perfectly valid. Just make sure they aren’t using AI, while I don’t generally have an issue with AI art for personal use or your own projects I do take issue with people generating art and passing it off as something they put a lot of time and effort into. Real graphics take hours of manipulation to get the way you want it and some artists can actually draw. I use free images and those packs I got off humble bundle so I can kind of bypass the drawing part of the assignment.
To Conclude
In conclusion there is no wrong way to write as long as you are being authentic and legible. Syntax and sentence structure can always be fined tuned in post production and for me, getting words on the page is the hardest and most important part. Keep writing and always stay curious!
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