The Advanced Creative Writing class taught by Tobias Buckell was visited by novelist and screenwriter Daniel Abraham on Tuesday, March 16. Abraham answered many questions regarding his writing advice and what process he uses for writing prose fiction and television scripts.
Abraham writes under multiple pen names, like M.L.N. Hanover, and James S.A. Corey, in which he writes science fiction, fantasy and horror. Abraham is best known for writing ‘The Dagger,’ ‘The Long Price Quartet,’ and co-authoring ‘The Expanse’ book series. He has also written many short stories, novels and scripts including those within the TV adaptation of The Expanse series on Amazon Prime Video. He has been nominated for many writing awards including the Nebula Award, the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the World Fantasy Award.
When speaking with the class, Abraham shared what the biggest difference is between writing prose fiction and writing scripts, explaining that scripts or more considered a construction document rather than the story process of prose. He said this was the biggest learning curve for him as a writer and given him the most growth within his craft.
“When writing a novel, you are building the last steps between you and the audience,” Abraham said. “When writing a script, you are basically making a structure for a thousand people.”
Students within the small class kept the questions rolling, asking about the advantages and disadvantages when working with books and film, world building, the collaboration process, editing and symbolism. Abraham often answered each question in two ways: as a novelist and as a script writer, pushing forward the striking difference between the two.
Abraham appeared to be completely honest with the class, not afraid to admit when certain steps within writing were difficult or mundane. Buckell asked Abraham how many words he writes each day after he had explained that his writing process revolves around word count first and foremost. Abraham laughed before he responded, admitting that he doesn’t actually write every single day.
Daniel Abraham answers questions via Zoom to the Advanced Creative Writing class.
“I’m not that guy,” Abraham said.
The act of writing daily is something writers — especially beginning writers — are constantly encouraged to do. So, the idea that a successful writer can take a week or month away from a project or manuscript without imploding was refreshing for the class. Abraham’s editing process seems to rely on taking breaks from pieces, simply giving himself time to back away from the project so when he returns he can read and edit as a reader rather than as a writer.
All five seasons of Abraham’s ‘The Expanse’ can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
