Lmst

The research phase is one of my favorite parts about writing a novel or story. Here's how I start the process.

https://esraye.com/2025/05/27/book-research/

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amoutlining #worldwari #scifi #sciencefiction #sff

Despite realizing only yesterday that my WIP novel needs a whole new supporting character I have to go back and fit into the outline, I'm switching to a different project.

(Typical, amirite?)

For the first time, I'm trying to turn one of my screenplays into a short story so I can submit it to an anthology. Wish me luck.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amoutlining #writer #author #novelist #shortstory #scifi #sciencefiction #sff #horror

I just wrote the phrase, "sci-fi shenanigans happens," in my Shallow Trenches, Open Skies outline ...

#writingcommunity #writers #writer #scifi #sciencefiction #amoutlining #amwriting

Self-insert fiction is generally frowned upon, right?
What if the person I'm inserting is my dog?

#amwriting #amoutlining #writer #writingcommunity

Sometimes doing historical research for a novel is hard or boring. Other times you get to learn about Mutt the cigarette delivering French bulldog of World War I.

#writingcommunity #writer #amoutlining #amwriting

Mutt the cigarette-delivering French bulldog of WWI

It's still early days and broad strokes, but Shallow Trenches, Open Skies's outline is slowly taking form.

#writingcommunity #writer #authot #sciencefiction #scifi #sff #worldwarone #wwi #amoutlining

An outline for a novel, arranged in a pie shape, where each chapter is outlined in a wedge shape.

After nearly two months away from the beginnings of my outline for Shallow Trenches, Open Skies, I think I need to start over. I've just had a thought about a couple of my main characters that changes everything!

#writers #writingcommunity #writer #amwriting #amoutlining #writerstodon #writersofmastodon #sciencefiction #scifi #sff

After the absolute mad dash the last 6-ish weeks have been with editing Gas Giant Gambit, I'm going to take the rest of the week off to clear my workspace and my mind, both of which have become untenably cluttered.
Then, back to outlining Shallow Trenches, Open Skies!

#writers #amwriting #amoutlining #sciencefiction #scifi #sff #novel #bookcommunity

i have outlined the next chapter and it's going to be all rainbow-fueled emotional carnage and quite possibly massive, to boot.

#amOutlining #BeingSamanthaMasters

sitting here planning on how to make a fictional trans girl's fictional life very fictionally difficult.

#amOutlining #BeingSamanthaMasters

It feels like an appropriate time to mention that my upcoming debut novel 𝘎𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵: 𝘈 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘺𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘙𝘪𝘧𝘵, coming Sept. 2025, is about how greed corrupts and leads to atrocities.
And that I'm working on a follow up novel I'm tentatively calling 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 about how xenophobia and hatred divide us.

These subjects feel especially topical right now.

#writer #writersofmastodon #writerstodon #sciencefiction #scifi #sff #worldwar1 #amwriting #amoutlining

Even distracted by the Bruins on Hockey Day in Canada, I've managed to get my rough outline to the midpoint.
After Boston puts the Senators away (🤞) I need to do some research on the Third Battle of Ypres, but it's been a good day.

#sciencefiction #scifi #sff #Writing #writer #writerstodon #writerofmastodon #amwriting #amoutlining #novel #wwi

And somehow, just like that, after a few weeks of struggling, I just came up with a rough outline for the first act of my WWI scifi novel in a little over an hour.
I'm starting to see the story. This is my favorite part.

#scifi #sff #sciencefiction #writer #amwriting #amoutlining #writerstodon #writerofmastodon #novel #novelist #writingcommunity

It's taking time, and there have been a number of setbacks this week, but the WWI documentaries are helping me get into the minds of my characters and the situation they find themselves in.
A basic outline is slowly starting to form.

#sciencefiction #sff #scifi #writer #author #writersofmastodon #writerstodon #amwriting #amoutlining #writing #outlining #novel #novelist

...aaaaannnd the broad strokes of the rest of Being Samantha Masters are falling into place.

Thank you, surgical recovery pain, for keeping me up so I could work through all of those plot threads.

#amOutlining #BeingSamanthaMasters

I #AmWriting (well, I #AmOutlining) a 'cozy' world, with an eye toward writing 'cozy romantic fantasy'. It's... a thing.

But the more I stare at it, the less I'm sure it's a thing I really want to do. I'm in a group which plans to publish a bunch of books in this genre all at the same time, in a big publicity push, but I'm not sure I'm a good fit for the group, and I am sure the kind of cozy/setting I want to write doesn't fit their ideas.

So. What should I do? Do I write the cozies I want to?

The problem with outlining the next four chapters is that now I want to write them, dammit.

#amWriting #amOutlining #BeingSamanthaMasters

I finally found something I've been looking for online. A million years ago (uh, 2018), I found a great explanation for story structure and basic outlining. I saved it in a variety of places and immediately lost it.

I have *found it!* Here's a link. It's a great resource for #AmWriting and #AmOutlining and so on. And in general.

https://www.tumblr.com/bookishdiplodocus/178570150561/how-i-turned-an-idea-into-an-outline