Damian Myron Writes

Imaginative Thrillers Horror and Fantasy

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Outlining Dig Down (Part I)

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I’d come up with the idea for Dig Down in 2011. I mainly had the simple premise that a man had to run for his life because many different parties wanted him dead, and a rough outline of the characters that would become Rob, Preston, Beverly, Rocco, and Officer Hastings.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2017 that I started giving the idea serious consideration. To that point, anytime I thought about the story again, I was faced with three problems.

One: who were all the people who would be trying to kill Rob and why? Two: What was Preston’s reason for not helping Rob? And three (and what really stopped me from writing the story for 6 years): After visiting Preston in his townhouse to ask for help, the story was going to ramp up, and Rob would constantly be jumping out of one frying pan into another fire.

How was I going to present this in a way that it wasn’t too drastic of a change for the reader after spending a short time (I was originally expecting only a 20 page scene between Rob and Preston) covering Rob’s troubles in the townhouse?

For me, the solution came when I decided I wasn’t going to tell the story chronologically, but across two alternating timelines. By making this one choice, I could keep the danger Rob faced after leaving the townhouse at its peak, while still giving the audience a breather with emotionally intense, though much somber, moments between Rob and Preston.

This also allowed me to go into more detail about Rob and Preston’s strained relationship, why Preston was reluctant to offer assistance, and how Rob ended up getting mixed up with the rogues gallery of Dig Down.

I’ll go into more details about Rob’s seedy history, next week.

My Story (a serial set in the Dig Down universe)

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I

“THAT WAS MY STORY!” Ryan’s voice boomed between the four walls of Frank’s office.  

The whole room had taken on a reddish tint to Ryan. This must be what it’s like to see blood. He had never been so enraged in his life, afraid of what his scrawny frame was capable of in this state.

In an effort to calm himself, he took in deep huffs of breath. A stack of papers on Frank’s desk fluttered with each forceful exhale, a paperweight the editor kept on top of them the only thing keeping them grounded, and just barely.

Frank remained steadfast in his usual posture, deeply reclined in his chair behind his desk. When he felt Ryan had calmed down sufficiently to have a conversation, he simply asked, “Do you have any proof of that?”

The editor raised a steadying hand when he saw Ryan ready to explode again. “I’m not calling you a liar. I’m just asking if you can substantiate that claim. You’re a reporter. You wouldn’t just run a juicy story without verifying it.”

“You mean like all the drafts of the story I’ve got on my desktop?”

“They’d have drafts on theirs as well.”

“Yeah?” Ryan challenged. “Going back to last week when I first started writing the story? Check the created dates on my drafts, I bet they’ll be earlier than anything that thief has!”

Frank shook his head. “If it were me, I’d just say I deleted some of the earlier drafts until I was satisfied with what I was writing.”

“How about my notes with all of the sources used in the article?”

Frank was shaking his head before he even finished the sentence. “I’m sure they’ll have the same notepad filled with bullet points from their own interview.”

“You really believe that? That we’d each have the exact same contacts on the same story?”

Frank shrugged his shoulders. Ryan always hated that gesture, but never more so now that he was on the receiving end of it.

“We’re all on the same team. It’s possible your contacts wouldn’t think anything about a reporter from the same newspaper asking to verify the information they gave you. Especially if it was Horace calling them.”

Ryan saw an opportunity and seized it. “So you agree it’s possible he stole my story.” Not a question.

Now it was Frank’s turn to exhale deeply. “As much as I’d believe it’s possible that a struggling reporter tried to take credit for a story by a heavily honored newsman.”

The editor let that hang in the air.

And there it is. They all warned you Frank wouldn’t turn on his golden boy. 

“So I’ll ask again. Do you have any proof?”

Ryan’s deep breaths were on the precipice of hyperventilation. Each successive inhale was as tough to swallow as the admission.

“No,” he said, barely above a whisper.

Frank started to give a pep talk about hanging in there, but Ryan barely heard it, let alone processed it. Leaving Frank’s office did nothing to help him escape his nightmare.

As he made his way back to his desk, Ryan stopped at a profile picture Horace Husk used for each of his articles, that the paper had blown up to cover the wall from ceiling to floor. Each pearly white of his eat shit grin was as big as Ryan’s head. 

Still fuming, Ryan fought the urge to claw at the picture, to rip that smug grin off of its face. Fantasies of doing the real thing paraded through his mind, seducing him.

He noticed his fists were clenched, and took a moment to study his stature. Reality set in, and he knew, even in a fury, attacking the “reporter” physically wouldn’t amount to much.

He’d probably write a story about how he survived a “deadly attack” from a “deranged colleague” and get another award.

For the first time since storming into Frank’s office, Ryan felt calm. He knew a fight wasn’t the optimal way to exact his revenge.

And he would have his revenge.

(The story will continue, next Thursday)

Plotter or Pantser?

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During the months leading up to the launch of Dig Down, I was spending most of my time researching the hundreds of things I needed to get done to make the launch as successful as possible. I watched numerous YouTube channels that gave instructions on how to create a website, building a social media platform, the best uses of your time and money, and I could go on and on.

It was extremely helpful getting tips from other writers who’d already taken the journey themselves, and I was always searching out new sources of information. One of the best resources I came across was the podcast So You Want to be a Writer.

Not only was this show hosted by two authors who chronicled the goings on of their own careers, they also held weekly interviews with other writers. Talk about a healthy dose of exposure to the writing process.

The end of their interviews always play out like Inside the Actor’s Studio where they’ll ask their guest the same series of questions. One question they posed stuck with me: they’d ask “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” Essentially, do you work out what’s going to happen in your story before you start writing, or do you fly by the seat of your pants, making it up as you go along?

I’ve got a lot of respect to all the writers who identify as pantsers, and I understand the reasoning behind their writing process. Authors like Stephen King and George R.R. Martin fall into this category, stating that they want to be as surprised at what happens next when they write it as their audience will be reading it.

But, I’m a meticulous plotter, through and through. I leave room for improvisation, and there’s always revisions I find I need to make both while writing and after, but I need a steady framework of where I am in the story and where it’s going or I’ll never finish. For Dig Down, I think I spent more time outlining the story than I did writing the first draft.

In the coming weeks, I’ll go into detail about how much I craft the story before I put down a single word

Getting Started

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Ever since I made the announcement that I was going to be self publishing my first book, I’ve received an overwhelming amount of support. I’ve loved seeing the screenshots people have taken of their order confirmations, and selfies where they’re reading my story.

A few people have told me it’s quite an accomplishment just to finish writing a book, and that while they have an idea or two, they wouldn’t know where to begin. So I thought I’d share what works for me.

Whenever I sit down to write a book (and I just did this on the new novel I’m working on), on the first day, I write a grand total of…

…1 page.

Even though I’m not looking for perfection in a first draft, and I know it will be heavily edited when it’s put through round after round of revisions, I stick to writing 1 page.

The reason I do this is because no matter the size of the story, I know it’s going to be a long process. It can look daunting at the onset, and you can get easily discouraged and give up in these early stages. I want that journey to start out on the right foot. So I set a small goal that I know I can easily hit, and build on that momentum.

So if you’re someone who’s got an idea for a book, give this a try. I look forward to reading your story soon.

Last minute things

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As we’re getting to within 3 weeks of the launch of Dig Down, I’m finding that there are still about 100 things I still need to get done to make the book and your experience with my writing brand the best it can be. If you’re reading this, then that means I’ve at least accomplished one of them.