Writing Like a Filmmaker

I attended an author fair this last Saturday and struck up a conversation with the author L. M. Helm. Luke is a writer of westerns for pre-teen boys. We’d met previously at an author fair and I was happy to see him again. Traffic was slow, so we spoke for a few minutes about the thing writers most often talk about—writing.

As I listened, Luke offered me his process on creating fiction. I found what he said valuable and wanted to share it here. 

Luke explained he’s always heard you must write every day. And while that might work for some or even many, for him it’s not the best model. He told me he has come to view the making of his books as a film director might his or her films:

• Pre-production – this is the period of time when Luke is planning a novel, doing his metawriting, working out the story arc, the characters, the world-building, etc.
• Production – this is the next stage where Luke is doing the work, the writing of the story. He’s getting the first draft down on paper.
• Post-production – this is the third stage of the effort, the editing and redrafting of the manuscript created during production. Readying the writing for a reader.
• Distribution – this final stage is where he’s finalizing any last packaging details and pushing the book out to readers.

While I write every day and this is foundational to my process, I see definite value in viewing one’s effort in such stages. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. All four of Luke’s stages require writing, albeit with varying tactics and goals.

Every writer’s process is his or her own, and must work uniquely for them. Like any work of discovery, the optimal approach is to take the best of those who’ve come before and get to work—with the willingness to pivot as needed.