Word Craft #7: Russell James

Russell James has been writing daily, apparently without any extended breaks or even weekends off, since 2001 (personally I feel pretty good if I write four days out of seven). I admire that kind of consistency, even if I can’t particularly relate to it.

I can relate to having my wife as my first reader. There’s no one I trust more with that raw, flawed draft.

I enjoyed reading Russell’s responses to my Word Craft questions, and I hope you do too. Please welcome Russell James to Word Craft!

-J.D.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer.

Author Russell James

I’m currently a technical writer for a Fortune 50 company. When my wife and I used to go on long drives, I’d say “You know what would be a good story?” and then tell her about a plot idea I had. Eventually she said “Why don’t you write these stories down and get them published.” I said “Because no one would ever pay to read something I wrote.” But I did end up trying what she suggested, and here we are.

What’s your book about?

In The Playing Card Killer, Brian Sheridan may be losing his mind. It’s getting hard to know what’s real.

He’s plagued by dreams of women strangled with a red velvet rope, their corpses left with a signature playing card. And while awake, he’s hallucinating a strange man who appears to be stalking him. Brian hopes all this is driven by his sudden withdrawal from a lifetime of anti-anxiety medications.

Then the victim from one of his nightmares shows up on the news. She’s been murdered and Brian immediately fears he may be the unwitting killer.

Detective Eric Weissbard thinks the same thing, and starts to build a case to get Brian behind bars and stop the string of horrific murders by the man the press have dubbed The Playing Card Killer.

Can being proven innocent be worse than being found guilty? That may be the case as the truth about The Playing Card Killer sucks Brian into a whirlpool of kidnapping, torture, and death.

INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION

Why do you write?

I think that I write because I don’t know what I’d do at this point if I didn’t. It’s like there are ideas bubbling up inside me, and writing them down is their escape vent. Not all of them turn into stories. Sometimes they are just flash ideas that go nowhere. But even those get typed into the potential story file.

Have you ever taken an extended break from writing? If so, why, and what brought you back?

No, I’ve been writing almost daily since 2001.

What do you do when you need additional inspiration or ideas?

A long walk outside usually gets my mind going. Some of the best ideas or twists to a story arrive when I’m not thinking about writing, while I’m doing something completely different. I guess that’s my subconscious trying to pull its own weight. I’m happy it wants to participate in the process.

Do you finish everything you start? If a piece isn’t working, at what point do you cut your losses and abandon it?

I have several unfinished novels. Sometimes the story seems to run dry, or I’m unhappy with how it’s taken shape. I never really abandon it. There was something that sparked my initial enthusiasm for the idea, so I hope that I’ll find it again later. Several times I just didn’t have the skill to tell the story then. But later when I’d gotten better at the craft, I was able to complete the novel. I’ve got a great idea now that I don’t think I can pull off yet.

METHODS AND PRACTICES

How often do you write?

Every day.

Do you have a regular time of day and place that your write?

I prefer to get up early when it is dark and quiet and settle in to write for a few hours. But when the ideas are hot and heavy, I’ve gotten great work done on airplanes, in hotel rooms, all over.

Do you keep a writing log? What data do you track (word count, session start/end, etc.)?

No.

What elements of your life distract you from writing the most, and how do you manage those distractions?

Nice days are a major distraction. I want to get outside, ride my bike, do some yard work, head to the beach. So I get up early so that I can write while it’s dark. Then by the time the sun reveals what a glorious day it is, I have a few thousand words under my belt and I can do something fun.

Do you revise as you go, or wait for a complete first draft?

Overall, I don’t go back and start editing until the story is finished. But I do leave myself notes all the time about things I need to go back in the story and add to. Such as if my character picks up a gun, I might need to leave a note to go back to Chapter 11 and have him tuck a gun in his waistband. Then once there is a page that says (END) on it, I let the whole mess sit for a while. Then I go back and begin the first of several editing passes.

Who sees your work first, and why?

My wife generally sees it first. I appreciate her honesty. And she won’t tell the world how awful my first drafts are.

What’s your backup system (for computer files)?

I do a weekly copy over to a separate hard drive.

Do you have any particular methods via which you communicate with your subconscious mind?

A good night’s sleep seems to jog ideas and fresh angles loose. If a good night’s sleep wasn’t so elusive, I’d be way more prolific.

What methods or practices have you used to increase your productivity?

I used to just work on one project until it was done, no matter what inspirations struck me. Now I’m willing to set the work in progress aside and redirect myself to something new while it really intrigues me. I usually go back to the current project soon after, but I’ve left enough groundwork, notes, and ideas that I have a head start on the next idea when the current WIP is finished.

How important are lighting, sound/silence, smells, and other sensory factors to your writing process?

I need bright lighting, preferably natural daylight, but I installed lots of lights in my office for early morning writing. I also work much better in silence. Music or television too easily grabs my attention. There are people who like to go to a coffeehouse to write. I would get zero done in that environment.

Russell’s assistant editors.

My two cats, Timothy and Mallory, also provide companionship and inevitable distraction during the writing process.

FORTHCOMING

What are you working on now, and what projects do you have scheduled?

In March, my short story In the Domain of Doctor Baldwin will appear in Flame Tree Press’ American Gothic anthology. I’ll be alongside Ambrose Bierce and Edgar Allen Poe, so I hope that I measure up.

Later this year, Claws: A Kathy West Novel is coming out from Severed Press. It is the first of a series of novels about U.S. National Park Service Rangers Kathy West and Nathan Toland. In this first one, they are stationed at Fort Jefferson, a real life National Park on an island sixty miles off of Key West, Florida. They end up fighting off a group of mercenaries and an attack by giant crabs. Severed Press is great for B-movie fun stories about giant monsters. This will be my fourth book through them.

Brewing in the pot are a post-apocalyptic novel and a fourth installment of my Grant Coleman adventure series with Severed Press. He’s a paleontologist who gets recruited on expeditions to find lost species. He’s off to China to find dragons. It won’t be pretty when he does.