My writing process blog tour

Hi, this is Travis from Tokyo surrenders to a hamster, and today, I'd like to talk about my writing process!

Please check out http://weirdvision2001.blogspot.jp/ as he is the one who passed the torch to me. She has a lot of really cool stories, and English isn't even her first language. She is just awesome, and I enjoy her urban fantasy worlds and stories. Please check out her stuff.




1) What am I working on?







-I'm currently working on a lot of editing. At the moment, I'm focused on this semi-final draft of PAINTING and its query letter to resubmit to agents.











2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?



-As an urban fantasy set in Tokyo, Japan with strict magic costs and rules, my story steps away from others in the urban fantasy genre by making foreign, cultural differences one of the key character conflicts and twisting major political events to give a rich secret history to the world. The blend of a hard magic system with action-packed fight scenes and a romantic tragedy pulls the reader through the "Moon-like" world of Japan in order to make it feel natural.



3) Why do I write what I do?


-I started writing urban fantasy because I wanted to talk more about my experiences in Japan. I use hard magic systems because I'm a big fan of epic fantasy and wanted to give an urban fantasy world the feel of an epic fantasy. And for most people, Japan might as well be a made up place, far far away. Beyond that, I just love to write about the things around me.




4) How does my writing process work?
-I am more of a Gardener than an Architect, but my current process is as follows:
  -Come up with an idea/magic system.
  -Write a scene using the magic system to give me a better feel for the world.
  -Come up with characters in the world and how the magic makes the world different.
  -Create a chapter by chapter one paragraph outline. 
  -Do sample scenes through the outline with each character to get a better feel for them and the world.
  -Write a one-page synopsis.
  -Revise the chapter by chapter outline.
  -Write the first draft. I generally try to get this done within a month NaNo WriMo style. (I type the first draft on my ipod touch)
  -Do the second draft without pause. (Each draft after the first is done printed out with a red pen then clean it up with Edit Minion, Grammarly and text-to-speech in that order)
  -Have people read the first few chapters of the second draft then do a third draft.
  -Wait a few months, work on a different project, clear my thoughts and come back.
  -Do a fourth draft and post the entire thing on Critique Circle for beta readers.
  -Then I just clean it up and prepare to ship it out.




Thanks for reading. Sorry that the train stops with me, but I had no fellow blogger responses lol.