Orloff at Orloff's

This is Alan Orloff. He's not my brother. He's not my cousin (that I know of). But how cool that we share the same--and not too common--last name. I actually told him, as we were planning this blog that when I first started my website eight years ago or so, I used to routinely hear from Orloffs researching their family tree. Since I am from a very scarce family of Orloffs (my father being the last male) . . . I have yet to find a relative, but you never know. Actually, once I got on FB, I started hearing from some Orloffs in Russia and Europe. So far, no match there either. But Alan in my cyber-cousin. AND HE HAS A BOOK OUT. So buy it and support my family. ;-)

What Say You?

Thanks, Erica, for inviting me to guest blog today. It’s a real pleasure!

First, a note: If you’re an astute blog reader (and I know you are), then you’ve probably noticed that Erica and I have very similar last names (technically, they are identical). So, to answer the inevitable question: Not to my knowledge. Of course, we could be related. I’m from a very small family but there may be an offshoot or two I’m not familiar with. Even if we’re not exactly related, I’m honored to have such a talented “sibling.” Hopefully, somewhere along the line, our books will sit side-by-side on a bookshelf, giving people who don’t read this blog something to ponder (Hmm. I wonder if those two Orloffs are related? Not a very common name…).

If you asked 50 writers to describe their “writing processes,” you’d probably get 75 different responses. Some writers stick to a set of inviolable rules, others “meander across the meadow,” while others invoke voodoo dolls and incense, heavy on the incense (substitute “alcohol” for “incense” as required).

Hey, whatever works!

Here are a few questions to help you “define” your writing process, along with my responses.

Are you an outliner or a “seat-of-the-pantser”?

I’m an outliner. Maybe it’s my quantitative background and schooling (yes, I’m a reformed engineer), but I feel more comfortable when I know where I’m headed. I think if I tried to wing it, I’d write myself into a dark alley in Newark with no visible path home. (No offense to anyone living in Newark! Or in dark alleys!)

Do you write daily or whenever you can grab a chance?

Sometimes I write daily, sometimes I write whenever I can grab a moment. (I know, I know—this is a waffle-y answer. Everything’s not always black and white. Or even gray.) When I’m working on a draft, I’m pretty diligent about writing daily. But between projects, I have to admit I don’t write every day. Of course, if you counted emails and bios and those frustrating attempts to distill 80,000 words of a novel into four pithy sentences for back cover copy, then I suppose I do write every day. But that’s not the type of writing I call writing.

Do you revise as you go or do you plow through?

I’m a big proponent of the Plow-Thru Method (patent pending). When I’m in first draft mode, my only goal is to hit my word quota (see below), quality be damned. That’s what the second draft is for—making my first draft readable. And the third draft is for making the second draft not suck, and the fourth draft is for…well, you get the idea.

Do you have a daily quota or do you write for as long as the spirit moves you?

Per the Plow-Thru Method, I sit at my computer and type until I hit my daily quota. Then I move on to other things, even if I’m in the middle of a sentence when I hit my mark. Seriously, I am not joking about

Do you write what you want or what you think has a shot of selling?

Yes.

Do you listen to music when you write?

I love music. But I can’t write when it’s on. Same goes for kids. I love mine, but when they’re chattering in the background, I can’t seem to concentrate.

How about you? What is your writing process like?

Alan Orloff's debut mystery, DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, was published this month by Midnight Ink. The first in his new series, KILLER ROUTINE - A Last Laff Mystery, featuring Channing Hayes, a stand-up comic with a tragic past, will be out Spring 2011 (also from Midnight Ink). Yes, his last name is really Orloff. Small world, right? For more info, visit www.alanorloff.com