In Rotation

Last week I talked about Running the Gauntlet, a writing exercise where I run through many of my files adding little bits. Now I want to talk about what happens after the gauntlet – In Rotation.



I wasn’t always so organized or ‘strict’ about writing. I was always a little loose about it, writing on projects here and there. Before, I’d work on things at random until one came into focus. Things started changing after the last time I’d run the gauntlet of stories. For a while, I was writing and releasing work back to back, but then I hit a point where there were two books in the pipeline (Agent Phoenix, Loose Lipped Secrets and Twinkling Lights) but nothing else really to be focused on.



I’d run the gauntlet again but had a couple of ideas I had just come up with. I’d initially put them on the backburner thinking I wasn’t ready to do them. I’ll often put things off if I don’t feel I’m good enough for them yet. But then I thought, why not, and jumped in headfirst. I started working on two projects: a horror novel for my publisher Supposed Crimes and a zombie book. At this point I wasn’t adding little bits to the stories but focused going back and forth between the two.



They were keeping up with each other for a while, but then I got another bee in my bonnet and added a third – a vampire story that had been started in different formats but now I was trying to make it into a novel. I now had 3 in rotation. The gauntlet was behind me and I was focusing on the three. I’d write a certain amount and then rotate to the next.



My wife and I had been kicking around a Christian murder mystery for some time. We’d created the setting and characters and story options but I hadn’t really gone into it. She suggested I start on it. I said, “I’ve already got three in rotation.” “Add a fourth.” She shrugged. I sat down and started it. I then had four in rotation and it’s been this way since late last year.



When I had started the rotation writing process it was August of 2019. It’s currently May 2020 and the first one is finished and with my publisher. My zombie book (book 2) is done but undergoing extensive rewrites, which is driving me bananas. The vampire book (No. 3) has had a drastic change to its original style and is finally coming together. The Christian mystery, the fourth in rotation, is rolling along smoothly.



I haven’t been back to the gauntlet in almost a year as I’ve had these four novels in rotation. When they’re ready I’ll go over the creation of each one. The process for the four is different for each one but there are similarities. The first two books were written closer together. I’d write three chapters on the first, rotate and write a section of the second, equaling to roughly the same page count. The third and forth books share a similar trait in how they will be shaped.



I’ve been pretty strict about the rotation. The lengths of writing time differ, however, but I’ll always have a stopping point. Sometimes the time to switch may seem premature but it’s for the best. The space of time between the books have helped the ideas flow as well as gives you a break when you get frustrated on a project. Although, I will say, writing four novels is burning me out. I’ve taken a couple of breaks, long weekends. But, damn, is it wearing on me. Still, I’m dedicated to getting the four done, and when they’re done, I will be taking a month off from writing ANYTHING. I can see that month in the distance. But for now, I’m getting back to work. I just finished over a month of writing on the Christian mystery and now I’m back to the beginning to the finished second book, only to chop it up. I rather like the rotation process but I don’t think I’ll be doing four novels together again. It’s a bit taxing.



I hope you all are staying safe.



Keep writing.

Running the Gauntlet

If you’re a writer like me, you’ve probably got a dozen stories in your head at any given time. For years I wrote on things at random. Rarely did I work on primarily one thing. I’d write on one project for a few pages, hit another, back to the other, then onto something new. There was no format and no structure; no method to the madness. After writing my first novel, I was elated. I had finally found an outlet for all these stories in my head. Prior to books I was writing things in mind for movies, music, and comics. Over time, managing my mess was an exercise.



I write on my phone a lot, then transfer it to my laptop where I’ll expand, format, and edit. Some projects I’ll write mainly on the laptop but I always end up doing some of it on my phone. I used to text pages and pages to myself. Sometimes full on pages of work, other times just notes. Things changed when my wife got me a new phone. I had changed from writing Agent Phoenix in text to writing it as a word document. Then the files grew with more stories and more notes.



After a while I had more than a dozen documents, not counting everything on the laptop. At this point, I had various pots and pans on the stove but was mainly focused on Agent Phoenix and Loose Lipped Secrets and Twinkling Lights. When I wasn’t working on the novel and poetry book, respectively, I had just a growing file of documents. I ended up falling into a more organized version of my previous work method. I began running the gauntlet.



This is what I ended up calling it. I’d stay up late at night - the family’s asleep, the dogs are put up, time to work with no interruptions – and start at the first document. Very few of them even have names. Most are Blank 1, Blank 2, etc. etc. Actually, two of the Blanks have become finished novels; first drafts, of course. I’d go down the list adding at the very least a line to everything.



I ran the gauntlet for a long while as multiple books were growing slowly, until several came into focus and they were put into a rotation – but that’s for next week.



I suggest using this method. It helped me out a lot, really got me to focus and put in the work. I’m more focused on my craft than ever. Every project is different so it was like a literary workout.



Whether on your phone, laptop, computer, tablet, or whatever, gather your files together (not all, but a healthy amount), start at the first one and just write. And when you’ve felt you’ve said what you could or wanted to say, go to the next file and do the same. Then the third, and however more you have. If you have a lot, you probably won’t always make it through. Aim for at least a sentence. There are some stories I wrote a page or so on, while others were a struggle for that one sentence. It is a writing workout. It can be fun, it can be frustrating, but it helps.



Running the Gauntlet, a writing suggestion.