We’ve decided to give you, oh dear aspiring writers, an insight of how other writers and aspiring novelists are doing their bit of writing. This time, Shannon Ellison (screenwriter, multi talented visual artist and writer) lets us take a peek at her writing method. Walk with me, young padawans, into Ms Ellison’s mind.

Shannon says:



I have a Bachelor’s in Filmmaking with a heavy focus on screenwriting and directing. I am an avid writer, graphic designer, photographer, and flamenco dancer. I’ve written multiple short stories and screenplays and focus particularly on novel-to-screenplay adaptation. I’m working on finishing my second novel, and hope to soon be published. My own blog is: www.nearlyeloquent.com I have a Bachelor’s in Filmmaking with a heavy focus on screenwriting and directing. I am an avid writer, graphic designer, photographer, and flamenco dancer. I’ve written multiple short stories and screenplays and focus particularly on novel-to-screenplay adaptation. I’m working on finishing my second novel, and hope to soon be published.

Do you have a ritual for writing?

Unfortunately my schedule is such that my preferred writing ritual often isn’t possible, but a few things are important whether I be writing from a coffee shop or from my desk at home – there must be headphones, and I must be in a personal space. My ideal place to write is at a coffee shop or library by the window, where the waiters won’t bother me and life is interesting but not distracting, with a steaming cup of tea in front of me and film scores in my ears.

When did you start introducing yourself as a writer? What changed in your life that made you say ‘Yes, I’m a writer’?

I’ve only been referring to myself as a writer for a few years, and I began after I finished the first draft of my first manuscript. I chose to commit myself to a writing schedule and to treat writing each day like any other appointment. It was simultaneously difficult and gratifying. I woke up at five to write each day before work, and after four months I had a finished draft of 160,000 words. After that I was confident and proud enough in my own ability to consider myself a ‘writer.’

What tools do you use for writing?

I used to write in a standard Word document, but I’ve since switched to Scrivener (we use Scrivener as well! It’s brilliant), and it has been an extraordinarily helpful tool. I highly recommend it. If I am struggling with something I also have a journal I write in by hand – it forces me to think about the construction of each sentence and the purpose of the scene itself because it takes me much longer than typing and my hand eventually gets tired.

Where do you get inspiration from?

There’s no one thing that inspires me. Mostly what I find compelling are difficult choices; real-world people who have made difficult choices are as interesting to me as larger current political events or wars. My stories are very heavily based upon and influenced by character, so once I find a compelling choice I imagine the person who that choice would be most difficult for, and a story comes out of that.

How do you approach your characters, how do you create them?

I’ve tried doing character sheets – how tall they are, what their fondest childhood memory is, etc – but I never found those to really help when I was struggling with making a fake person real. Now I do two things traditional to screenwriting – identify their want and need. My characters all have one or two big, deep flaws that they must address by the end of the story. Once I know what they are the rest of the character comes together very quickly.

Who’s the writer that has influenced you the most?

I can’t give one answer. Anne McCaffrey, Tolkien, Stephen King, Tad Williams, Cormac McCarthy, and Erich Maria Remarque are some of the first that come to mind. (We like Remarque too, and support this recommendation).

How much do you read?

I used to read voraciously as a child. I slowed down a bit in college, but I still read around three to five books a month.

How much and how often do you write?

I have a journal I keep with me and write in whenever things get boring. When writing a story I write at least 1,500 words a day. When plotting a story I write blog posts. I at least write one thing every day, whether it be in my novel, journal, or blog.

How would you describe your writing method?

I discovery-wrote my first book, but I don’t want to ever, ever do that again. I am now an architect. I start with brainstorming an idea until I have a strong character, a premise, and a difficult-choice ending. I then drop in events using an amalgamation of the traditional three-act structure and the hero’s journey. From there I add on gradually deeper layers of detail until I have a spreadsheet with an entry for each scene. Only then do I write. Doing this enables me to go through fewer drafts, and I am able to write much faster and more confidently. I spontaneously add on scenes and explore tangents as I go, but now I can be confident they won’t derail the whole story. When the first draft is finished I can begin to edit without the fear of having to rewrite entire sections, or – as I did with my first book – the entire thing.

Paperback or Kindle?

Paperback.

And that’s all for now, young ones. As you see, you’re not alone in your recherche of the best writing method. Keep looking what works for you, stick to it for a while, and then break it. Stagnant authors aren’t useful anymore, and art is merciless, believe you me.