Greetings. I am Rj Waltz, and this is my first personal blog post. I’m a writer, relatively unknown. Obviously. Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about my writing process. I’ve talked about this before in different venues, but I thought it would make an interesting first post here on my new site.

I tend to write my stories in three drafts. Well, technically four, but one of them is more of a half-step. Before I put any sort of pen to paper, I outline my story. I do this by writing down a little blurb about what is going to happen in each chapter. I write all of my outlines in Microsoft Onenote. The desktop version. Reason is, it’s super easy to keep everything sorted. Well, since you asked, I’ll tell you what I do in the program.
Okay, first I made myself a a notebook. In that notebook, I make a section, which is one of the tab thingies at the top. Each section is a different series. I have one for Connect, Keep Right, and so on. Underneath each section, there are pages scrolling down the right column. For those, I make a page for each book. This is where I write the book’s title, the little blurb that usually ends up on the back cover, and some miscellaneous notes if the story needs it. Character notes, terminology, that sort of thing. Here’s where the desktop version is so important; it’s the only version that has subpages. I make thirty ‘chapter’ pages under each book title page, and mark them as subpages. Why? The desktop version allows the subpages to be collapsed, of course. This allows me to keep multiple book outlines in the same section and keep it organized in a neat pile.
When I write my rough draft, I use a 3 ring binder full of loose leaf paper. I write my rough drafts in chronological order for the most part, but because I use loose leaf paper I can jump around to other chapters if the need arises. Also, if my pen happens to explode, for example, I can take the paper out without ripping up a whole notebook. Seriously, moleskin notebooks are the worst when that happens. Also, loose leaf paper is, what, a dollar for a pack of 150? Super affordable. I write with a relatively expensive pen; the legendary Pilot G2 black pen. They’re usually found in packs of 12 for around ten bucks or so, which makes them more expensive than a huge pack of white Bic rollerball pens.
Moving on. Obviously, no writer can keep their work in a hand-written format if they want to publish it, especially in this day and age. So what I do is type up the whole thing. While typing up the rough draft, I write it in LibreOffice Writer, which is an open source version of Microsoft Word. I use this because, well, I recently upgraded my laptop, and the good folks at Microsoft don’t tend to let people transfer their products between computers. While writing at pretty much every step, I change the background of the document to a nice soothing mint green color; this is because I have horrible eyesight and get frequent headache and tired eyes when I stare at white screens for too long. Don’t worry, it doesn’t affect the finished product in any way. While typing the rough draft, I don’t change much except for the occasional misspelled word and adding the notes that I make in the margins. I call this the ‘first draft’.
Instead of editing what I’ve written, I create a brand new blank document and retype the entire story. I add or subtract parts of the story (mostly add, I’m very minimalist with my words) and change enough of the first draft to make it almost unrecognizable. After I’m done with the second draft, I send it off to whatever beta readers I can scrounge up. Usually during this point (if I’m not working on a deadline) I’ll work on another project or start up a new book while I’m waiting.
After I get the written notes of my beta readers back, I go over them and start on my final draft. For this last draft, I also make a new blank document and rewrite the whole thing. For those keeping track, I write every book at least three full times. After I finish the final draft, I read it over, picking through it with a fine-toothed comb and make sure I corrected all of the typos, all of the dialogue sounds natural and human, I’ve fixed any poor sentences, and I’ve gotten rid of any glaring plot holes that the story may have.
Yes, I do edit my own stories, for better or worse. Then, once I polish my little words, they are ready for publication. So, I get a cover put together and format the story in the ways that it needs, and then I publish it. Currently, I’m only self-publishing for the moment, but that may change a little later on down the road.
So, yeah, that’s my process from start to finish. I’ve written this to answer the question, ‘What is your process?’ preemptively. I like to get ahead of the curve when I can.
-Rj