Before
writing full-time, Jones taught financial reporting and business systems
development at the university level and worked in public accounting and
consulting. He is a member of The Private Eye Writers of America and
International Thriller Writers, and an affiliate of Mystery Writers of America.
To
stay close to family, Jones now lives in the southwestern desert rather than
his native California. But when the surf’s up, he’ll make the 450-mile trek to
the coast for a little “water therapy.”
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GUEST POST
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
I research initial details for my character sketches, scene locations, and police procedure during the outline phase of a project. This usually takes me a month. But most of my research takes place as I write. While I’m penning the draft on my first computer monitor, I use a second monitor to research. ChatGPT and Google Gemini are now my new best friends. Google Maps my next best friend. And Wikipedia and Perplexity, my go-to for an overview and footnote references to definitive research sources on a subject.
My favorite part of research is scouting locations. Especially if it involves being on the coast. That just means I have another opportunity to catch a few waves.
Advice you would give new authors?
Workshop your work! Whatever it takes, get feedback from people who are interested in your success. And be open to what fellow writers have to say. They can tell when something isn’t working, when characters behave out of character, and when your language isn’t capturing your intention. Listen and revise accordingly.
You can often find writing critique groups at your local library or through state and local writing organizations. I found my “writing safe space” through Write On – St. George, a local chapter of the League of Utah Writers. Each week, the “Writers Improvement Group” (WIG for short) meets to review what we wrote since the last session. Knowing I need to have “something for WIG” motivates me to get words on the page. The weekly goal: five pages double-spaced. For me, my critique group functions as both a sounding board and an accountability group. Everyone needs a little encouragement. Especially writers!
What makes a good story?
Anything that keeps me turning the page, usually involving a story-worthy protagonist pursuing a goal that makes a difference while facing overwhelming obstacles.
What are you currently reading?
In fiction, I’ve just finished Death by Coconut: A Holly Swimsuit Mystery (Book 7) by Susie Black and am now reading Voodoo River by Robert Crais—an Elvis Cole and Jim Pike novel (Book 5).
When it comes to audiobooks—my wife and I are on the road a lot to visit family—we’re currently listening to Michael Connelly’s Ironwood: A Catalina Novel, book two in the series.
In nonfiction, I’m reading Page One to Done: Finish Your Novel in 30 Days with the Fast Drafting Method by Jessica Brody.
What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first?
I’m neither a pure Planner nor a pure Pantser—I’m a Plantser!
As a big fan of the late Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat!® approach to story structure, I tend to “beat out” the major plot points in my novels, complete with scene cards. Each card has a short scene description identifying the Hero/Heroine, Goal, Obstacles, and Stakes along with notes on the emotional change from scene opening to scene close.
As I write the scene, sometimes magic happens and the “players” don’t behave as I expect. So, I end up channeling the characters, leading to surprises I never would have imagined during the outline phase of the project.
Listening to the Muse means trusting the “pantsing” side of my brain. When that happens, I’m more than happy to rewire the plot. For my writing process, it’s both plotting and pantsing. But always plotting first.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Now that I have three novels under my belt, my average time to draft, workshop, and revise a book is about one year. My writing group members keep telling me I need to write faster, but with 20 grandkids and 5 great-grandkids between my wife and me, we’re on the road a lot for sports events, choir and orchestra concerts, play performances, and birthdays. I love to write, but first priorities, first.
Still, my writing group is correct. I really do need to find a way to write faster. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with what Jessica Brody calls Fast Drafting in her recently released book on writing craft—Page One to Done. In this how-to book, she provides a structured approach to helping writers complete a first draft of a novel in as little as 30 days. Recently, I watched Jessica demonstrate her technique in a webinar. I was impressed and vowed to try fast drafting for myself. So...ask me again in three hundred sixty-five days how long it takes to pen a novel, and I might be able to truthfully say “considerably less than a year.” It’s worth a try.
Have you ever had writer’s block?
Once.
After completing what I thought would be a bestseller, I sent off my manuscript to a major New York literary agency for review and evaluation for possible representation. I soon learned my book was “Dead on Arrival!” The feedback was scathing. This was in the early 1980s. I put the stillborn novel in a drawer.
I was besieged by crippling writer’s block, fearing I was wasting my time trying to write, dismayed I wasn’t a natural, and terrified that storytelling was beyond me. I told myself sad jokes: Why did the budding author buy a caseload of cornstarch? He thought if he could find a way to add it to his novel, the plot would thicken.
Truth was, for me, the plot never thickened because I had no clue how to plot. That first draft gathered dust in the drawer for the next 30 years.
To find a way forward, I devoured everything on the language of storytelling. That’s when I came across Blake Snyder’s trilogy on screenwriting—Save the Cat!®, Save the Cat!® Goes to the Movies, and Save the Cat!® Strikes Back. I couldn’t put these books down. I just loved Blake’s first-person account of adventures in the screen trade and his fusion approach to writerly advice—part craft, part self-help book. And I was encouraged by his unquenchable optimism: “Given enough patience to find it, every story problem has an answer,” he wrote.
My reality: I had a STORY PROBLEM.
Cut to August 27, 2016, when I took a two-day Save the Cat!® Beat Sheet Workshop. It was in that workshop that I learned my problem was (1) a matter of the right story pattern (my original draft was a mashup of two different kinds of stories) and (2) the need to structure the story with key plot points. Over the next two days, I zeroed in on the best story type (mystery) for my novel and nailed down what Blake Snyder calls the essential 15 beats. From there, it was only a matter of time before I was able to knock out the second draft, scene by scene. Writer’s Block removed!
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
My workspace, which includes—
A relatively clear desk except for the most recent draft of my work in progress;
A high-speed computer with two high-resolution monitors;
An ergonomic keyboard and chair;
A desktop fountain burbling;
Soft instrumental music playing in the background (usually Classical Baroque);
A storyboard on the wall plastered with scene cards from all three acts of the novel I’m working on;
And finally, a window with a view.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
The calendar on my iPhone has a daily entry “Write Now” set for a three-hour block from 9 a.m.-12 noon.
Oh, oh, oh...if only I were that disciplined.
The calendar event acts more as an inspiration to remember to get words on the page each day. That’s my goal. And I do keep track using the Active Daily Word Count Calculator spreadsheet from author Jessica Brody’s course “Writing Mastery: Productivity Hacks for Writers.”
How do books get published?
There’s a little magic to it and a healthy dose of hope. You write, and write, and revise, and query until you find just the right agent or publisher. Then you hand off your manuscript and hope the magic happens one more time.
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