Writing With Jennifer Estep

Writers usually are pantsers or plotters.There is no right or wrong way only the way that works for you, the writer. 


My guest urban fantasy author, Jennifer Estep. She writes both an adult Elemental Assassin series and  Mythos Academy series for young adults.


Jennifer talks about how she writes her stories.

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Sia for having me on the blog again today. Thanks so much, Sia!

So today I thought I would talk a little about my writing process since that always seems to be a popular question with readers, authors, and everyone else. How do you go about taking the characters and stories in your head, getting them down on paper (or in the computer), and turning them into a cohesive book? Everyone’s process is a little different. Some people like to plot out what will happen in every single chapter. Other folks just take an idea and run with it. There’s no right or wrong way to write a book. All that really matters at the end of the day is getting the words down and finishing that first rough draft.

I have to admit that I’m a total panster when it comes to writing. I don’t do detailed outlines, character descriptions, storyboards, or anything like that. I just think about my heroine, her magic, and how she can use it to defeat the bad guys. Once I have that in mind, along with some of the major turning points of the story, I just sit down and start writing.

Sometimes, it works out well, and the story just flows. Other times … not so much. It’s not pretty, but it’s the method that works for me. I find that if I outline a story too much that I sort of get impatient and even a little bored writing it, since I know what’s going to happen next. I guess part of me likes my characters to surprise me a little bit as I write them.

When I do start writing that first rough draft, I try to write at least 2,000 to 3,000 words a day (or more) until I have a rough draft of about 50,000 or 60,000 words or so. I find that working on the draft every day helps me keep the story flowing and the words pouring out. Then, when I’m finished with the rough draft, I let the story sit for a few weeks before going back to it, reading through, and seeing what changes might need to be made and what needs to be added to the story.

Then, I start my second draft, where I layer in more emotion, description, and dialogue. With my second draft, I usually aim to have about 90,000 words by the time I finish it. Then, I let that draft sit for a few weeks before going back to it and layering in even more emotion, description, and dialogue. I usually do this a couple of times until I have a draft of about 95,000 words or so and the book is the best that I can make it.

So there you have it – a little bit about my writing process.

• What about you guys? What’s your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a panster? What books are you enjoying right now?

Spider's Revenge Available 9/27/11 

Old habits die hard for assassins.

And I plan on murdering someone before the night is through.

Killing used to be my regular gig, after all. Gin Blanco, aka the Spider, assassin-for-hire. And I was very, very good at it. Now, I’m ready to make the one hit that truly matters: Mab Monroe, the dangerous Fire elemental who murdered my family when I was thirteen.

Oh, I don’t think the mission will be easy, but turns out it’s a bit more problematic than expected. The bitch knows I’m coming for her. So now I’m up against the army of lethal bounty hunters Mab hired to track me down. She also put a price on my baby sister’s head. Keeping Bria safe is my first priority. Taking Mab out is a close second. 

Good thing I’ve got my powerful Ice and Stone magic—and my irresistible lover, Owen Grayson—to watch my back. This battle has been years in the making, and there’s a good chance I won’t survive. But if I’m going down, then Mab’s coming with me . . . no matter what I have to do to make that happen. Excerpt

Buy: AMAZON, BARNES and NOBLE, BOOKS a MILLION,

USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assas­sin code­named the Spi­der who can con­trol the ele­ments of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing peo­ple and right­ing wrongs, Gin runs a bar­be­cue restau­rant called the Pork Pit in the fic­tional South­ern metrop­o­lis of Ash­land. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vam­pires, and ele­men­tals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

Books in the series are Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, and Tangled Threads. Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in the series, will be released on Sept. 27.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington. Touch of Frost, the first book in the series, was released in August. First Frost, a prequel e-story to the series, is available as a 99-cent download. Kiss of Frost, the second book, will be released on Nov. 29.

For more information, excerpts, and more, visit Jennifer’s website at http://www.jenniferestep.com/.

You can also find Jennifer:  FACEBOOK, GOODREADS, TWITTER

World Building With Jennifer Estep

My guest today is Jennifer Estep. She's a USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series, and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.


I'd say she might know a bit about successful world building in a story. I had a chance to pick her brain a bit about world building in her Mythos Academy series.

Most of us associate world building to paranormal and Sci-Fi. How important is world building to a story? 

JE: World building is always important in a story, no matter what genre you’re writing in. You always want to transport readers to another place, whether it’s a small town, an alien planet, or a medieval castle. You want to make folks feel like they are right there in the story with your characters, having a burger and fries at the local diner; or exploring a hot, muggy, tropical rainforest; or even feeling their toes go numb as they trudge through a mountain blizzard. You want people to connect with your characters, and bringing your world to life is one way to help do that.

However, I would say that world building is a little more important when you’re writing a fantasy/sci-fi book. Readers who enjoy those genres expect to see a lot of magic, sorcery, science, technology, etc. You have to create a world where those things are possible, and then make readers feel like they are in the middle of your world, whatever and wherever it is.

While you were writing Touch of Frost, did you already have an idea in mind for a setting/location for Mythos Academy or did you have to do some research for it?

JE: The great thing about writing fantasy is that you get to create your own world. I didn’t really do any research about the setting/location. I knew that I wanted Mythos Academy to be a private/boarding type of school with a Southern, mountainous setting, so I came up with Cypress Mountain, my fictional suburb that’s supposedly near Asheville, North Carolina.

After that, it was just a matter of deciding what sort of buildings the academy needed and how I could use the buildings and their descriptions to give the whole campus a dark, creepy, mythological feel.

Is Mythos Academy patterned or inspired by any building/structure you've visited or come across?

JE: No, the academy isn’t really patterned on any specific building. But several years ago, I visited the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, which I thought had some really cool architecture. Visiting the Parthenon reminded me how much I’ve always liked mythology and made me think that it would be fun to write a mythology-based story someday. And now, I have.

How do you decide what to include in your description of Mythos Academy (buildings, etc)? Was it difficult to write Mythos Academy at all?

JE: It wasn’t too hard for me to dream up the academy. Since it’s a school setting, I knew that there needed to be some school-type buildings, so I designed an upper quad where students spend most of their time. The quad features five buildings – the Library of Antiquities, the dining hall, the gym, the math-science building, and the English-history building.

Basically, these buildings tie in with everything that students would normally do, as well as some things that only the Mythos kids do. These buildings give students a place to eat (the dining hall); a place to go to classes (English-history and math-science); a place to train with weapons (the gym); and a place to study and socialize after classes (the library). There are also student dorms on campus, along with some other outbuildings.

I decided to use these buildings because I thought I could stage a lot of different scenes in and around the various buildings – everything from Gwen doing weapons training with the other students in the gym to her wandering through the library to her walking across campus late at night.

Complete this: Mythos Academy would cease to exist if _____ is missing. (Can be a person, place, an object, etc.)

JE: The Library of Antiquities. The library is a seven-story tall building with towers, parapets, and balconies. Gwen says it looks like something out of an old, Gothic horror movie. The library is also covered with statues of mythological creatures like gryphons, gargoyles, dragons, chimeras, and more, which adds to the creepiness factor. Inside, the library features hundreds of thousands of books, along with glass cases that contain artifacts that have been used by various gods, goddesses, heroes, and more – things like armor, weapons, jewelry, etc. There are also marble statues of gods and goddesses on the second floor balcony of the library.

The Library of Antiquities definitely the centerpiece of the academy and where a lot of the action in all the books in the series takes place. It’s also a place where the kids can Hang Out and Be Seen, as Gwen puts it.

Any advice for writers on how to effectively build worlds for their books?

JE: I think you just have to think about your story, your characters, and go with your instincts. What do you want your setting to be? How will it impact your characters and the overall story? Where are the places that your characters are likely to interact? What can you do to make these places special, interesting, unique, and memorable? How can you give a house or restaurant or graveyard a distinct look, feel, and personality of its own and make it almost become another character in your story?

Those are some of the things that folks might think about when it comes to world building. Also, you don’t have to go overboard on the description of a house, restaurant, etc. Small, subtle touches here and there can really add up and give your world/book a lot of atmosphere and personality. 

Jennifer, thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedule to be here and share your thoughts on the importance of building a believable world regardless of the genre we write.

Touch of Frost Available July 26th

Gwen Frost is an outsider at Mythos Academy, a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword. Gwen is an outsider both to the students of the Academy and the rest of the world. But when her gift of psychometry - the ability to know an object's history just by touching it reveals dark undercurrents and danger afoot, she has no choice but to get involved. EXCERPT

BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Borders

Available in both print and e-format. You can also read the prequel, First Frost for 99 cents from the above on-line stores in e-format..

~*~*~

Jennifer Estep is a Southern gal through and through. Sassy, sarcastic, and just a tad crazy.  She happens to think the greatest thing ever created was a library. Indoor plumbing is a close second, though. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism, and a master’s degree in professional communications. Currently, I’m an award-winning features page designer for a daily newspaper.

Jennifer has worked as a features writer and page designer for a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper and has more than 10 years of journalism experience. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and other writing groups.

.

Jennifer’s books have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, and a variety of other publications. You can follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.