Creative Case Study: A. A. Warren
Today we have a new creative case study for you, featuring novelist and screenwriter A. A. Warren! (No relation. I will admit that I intended to send him an email but accidentally sent it to myself. Thanks, Gmail.)
No two creative processes are alike, so I hope that showing you how different creatives find success will be helpful in your creative journey.
About the Creative
Andrew Warren — whose fantasy/sci-fi pen name is A. A. Warren — is an international bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and copywriter. He shares his writing process and favorite tools below!
How long have you been doing creative work?
Book 4 in Warren’s Tales of Talon series.
All my life, but professionally for about three years. I studied Film, English, and Psychology in school, but honestly that had limited impact on my professional development. It gave me a chance to write and be critiqued on a regular basis, but there are other ways to achieve that.
What are your favorite tools for creativity and productivity?
For writing fiction, Scrivener is incredible. For $40, it’s absolutely worth a try. I also use Final Draft 11 for screenwriting, OneNote for notes, and Trello for outlining.
What does your creative process look like?
For me, the process always begins with an idea I can’t stop thinking about. Sometimes, it’s a place… for example, my first spy thriller was born from me really wanting to revisit Japan, so I decided to use it as the setting of a book, like a kind of "virtual vacation." Then, it’s how to integrate that idea into a story. For me, a “story" is not "spy thriller in Japan"; it’s “A former spy dealing with bitterness and betrayal returns to Japan for one last mission, and must fight the demons of his past.” It’s personal vs. conceptual. Then, I drill down further and create a semi-detailed outline, using index cards or Trello. Maybe it’s not like that for everyone, but for me it is.
Also, I always create a new Spotify playlist for every work-in-progress. It makes it feel like a movie in my mind, and I definitely associate certain songs with different books.
Andrew’s spy thriller trilogy.
What is a specific project you've completed that uses the process you've outlined above?
Tokyo Black, my first spy novel, which launched an international best-selling series on Amazon.
What advice do you have for fellow creatives developing a creative process?
I truly believe there is an infinite number of ways to approach a story. When I read books on writing processes, I always try to find what resonates with me, and work it into my own system. I think any system for writing is basically layering a template or overlay over the infinite sea of possibilities. The overlay is just a guide, to help us process and cope with all the chaos, but there’s no "one correct" one to use.
Thank you so much for sharing, Andrew! Check out Andrew's novels on his websites:
Spy thrillers: http://www.andrewwarrenbooks.com/
Sci-fi/fantasy: http://aawarrenwriter.com/
Next week, we'll delve into your creative toolkit!