Self-involved post about my writing process.

Published by Aidan OGain in the blog Aidan OGain's blog. Views: 521

Okay, so the title says it all. Read at your own risk.

I'm an SF writer. At least that's what I tell myself. I don't have anything published. I'm not convinced anything of mine is really ready for publication. But if you're interested I have a poetry anthology and an intentionally bad flash-fiction piece here: http://www.wattpad.com/stories/search/?q=Aidan+O'Gain&ref=1 I've also got 4 or 5 short stories in various stages of completeness and satisfaction.

So I'm interested in writing from a female perspective, which is part of why I'm so interested in MLP. I also really like its optimism and heart, and I hope to reverse engineer it in my own work and fuse it with things I like in other stories. really, I'm trying to write what I'd like to read and I'm not quite there, yet.

Anyway, having such dubious successes in short fiction I've decided to try a novel. This first novel is basically going to be an alternate history and for the past few months I've been researching and building my "secondary world". It is a super hard, super involved process. In order to do it right I basically have to know all the things. All of history, all of science, all of everything. I've gotten the history of the old world fairly settled. Right now I'm tackling the Americas (where the novel is supposed to be set) and that's monstrously complicated. It isn't even a three-body problem. This is like a twelve-body problem. It's utter chaos and making heads and tales of it is just irksome. So instead of working on it some more I'm venting in this blog post.

The plan is to have all of the background for the setting complete by June or so. Then I'll have a few months to develop characters in context of their universe, set them on the course I expect them to run, develop an outline so that come NaNoWriMo, I'll be ready to plunge into the first draft. If I can get a first draft written, I can hopefully polish it to the point I'm confident in submitting it.

Anyway, that's the plan.

Also, I need to develop some aliens. That's another story altogether.
Apr 10, 2015
  • theotter
    theotter Apr 11, 2015
    Good luck man! Writing is hard work, but you seem to have a solid plan worked out. I mostly write fantasy stuff, but if you want to bounce ideas off someone let me know! :zebra:
  • Aidan OGain
    Aidan OGain Apr 11, 2015
    Thanks! If you've got stuff you can share I'd love to see it, too. Any favorite writers or stories?

    Having a plan isn't the same as walking it. I feel great trepidation. But I appreciate the support :)
    Whatever state of completion it reaches, I'll definitely let you know.
  • theotter
    theotter Apr 11, 2015
    I actually wrote a novel, but I am still in the process of getting a good deal with an agent (that is def. the less fun part). I have a few favorite writers! My favorite writers are Fyodor Dostoevsky, Flannery O' Conner, J.D. Salinger, and, of course, the king, Stephen King.

    Also, having a plan is actually an enormous part of the process. Well, for me it is, everyone is different. I usually get a lot of ideas before I start or before those ideas are supposed to be implemented, but some writers just chug it from start to finish.
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